The Meredead
by SocratesJackson
Summary: A crossover set in the H2O: Just Add Water universe, with the addition of characters from The Vampire Diaries. Bonnie and Caroline take Elena away on a vacation, to get away from all the supernatural happens back in Mystic Falls. But what they discover on The Gold Coast of Australia changes their lives and the lives of those they meet...
1. The Vacation

**The Meredead**

 **A crossover set in the H2O: Just Add Water universe, with the addition of characters from The Vampire Diaries.**

 **Bonnie and Caroline take Elena away on a vacation, to get away from all the supernatural happenings back in Mystic Falls. But what they discover on The Gold Coast of Australia changes their lives and the lives of those they meet...**

 **Standard disclaimer: Neither the H2O: Just Add Water universe nor The Vampire Diaries universe are my own, the characters from both belong to the show, but the story is of my own creation...**

* * *

 **A Much Needed Vacation**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Elena said to Caroline and Bonnie, who were sitting next to her in the first class cabin of the Qantas Airways. "School's starting in just a couple of weeks and we're going halfway around the world?"

"You need to get away, from anyone named Salvatore for awhile!" Bonnie told her.

"You've broken up with them, remember?" Caroline said. "But you sure haven't been acting like you have."

"It's complicated," Elena told her.

"What's complicated is finding a place where there aren't any supernaturals!" Caroline exclaimed. "No werewolves, travelers, hybrids, or evil doppelgangers! Just the three of us!"

"Yeah; just a couple of vampires and a witch who's also the supernatural gateway to the Other side," Elena exclaimed.

"You're not looking at this properly," Bonnie told her. "No brothers or teachers or boyfriends to prevent us from having a good time. Maybe you'll even find some cute surfer guy…"

"And try not to get him killed; yeah, I know," Elena said.

Caroline gave her the look.

"Okay, okay, it'll be fun!" Elena exclaimed. "Where are we going again?"

"The Gold Coast, to a place called Surfers Paradise," Caroline explained. "We ought to be able to find something there to help you forget Mystic Falls!"

"And we will have fun!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Seriously, thanks, guys," Elena told her friends. "This means a lot."

* * *

The flight was uneventful although both Caroline and Elena were feeling hungry after the long flight. Once they got their bags and took the taxi to the hotel they were able to get into the specially prepared bag that Bonnie had cast a spell on, making the blood bags stored inside, wrapped with dry ice, available to the two vampires.

Bonnie had also brought along several spare rings she had already prepared with the daylight spell, just in case. All three felt that they had taken enough precautions to actually be able to enjoy the trip.

They spent the entire first day at the beach near their hotel, just lying in the sun and splashing around at the edge of the surf. Yes there were some cute guys who were walking by on the beach, but the three pretty much just ignored everyone else and relaxed. With one exception: a good-looking blonde guy came by handing out flyers to a show that night at a nearby café; sadly he had on a wedding ring.

"So who's singing?" Caroline asked after they had checked out both the flyer and the guy.

"My wife Bella and her band," the guy said. "They're really good."

Elena smiled noncommittally at the guy.

"Hope to see you there," the guy said and turned and left.

"He was a hunk!" Caroline said after he was out of earshot.

"Yes, and unavailable," Elena replied. "You did see the ring, right?"

"Maybe he has some single friends," Bonnie said, staring thoughtfully at his receding form. "I think we should go."

"We have nothing else planned; why not?" Elena said.

"Good; it'll be fun!" Caroline said with a cheerful smile.

"I'll wait to pass judgment on if it is fun," Elena said.

* * *

Back at the hotel they were about to go upstairs when Caroline held out her hand, stopping them.

"Wait; I need to get a map from the concierge," she told them.

"What for?" Elena asked, puzzled.

They weren't planning on going anywhere, away from the vicinity of the hotel. There were several restaurants down by the beach, several with good recommendations by the hotel staff.

"So we can get to this café, you know, for the concert tonight," Caroline explained.

"Are you still thinking about that guy?" Bonnie said with a smirk. "Remember, he's married!"

"Oh, come on; it sounds like fun!" Caroline explained.

"Okay, go get your map," Elena told her. "But then I'm going swimming in the pool!"

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 2: The Café_


	2. The Café

**The Café - Chapter 2 of The Meredead**

* * *

It turned out the easiest way for them to get to the café was by water. Since Bonnie wanted to take a closer look at the reef near the hotel anyway they went to the rental center and found a small motorboat they could rent, not just for the evening but also for the next day. After changing into casual clothes, as per the flyer, they walked down the dock and found their boat.

"You sure you know how to use one of these?" Elena asked Bonnie as the latter prepared to cast off.

"I spent a whole summer a couple of years ago motoring around Chesapeake!" Bonnie explained.

"Oh, right, your big trip to the coast," Caroline said.

"Right," Bonnie said. "So don't worry; I know what I'm doing."

Using the directions that the hotel had given them, as well as Caroline's map, they went down the coast and found the harbor district. The café was on a small inlet near a residential neighborhood; it was hard to miss, as it was right on the edge of the water with a big neon sign proclaiming 'Rikki's'. There was a good size crowd sitting outside on the deck and a hearty rumble of conversation coming from the inside.

Bonnie pulled their rental up to the dock near the café and the three got the boat all tied up. Caroline then led the way off of the dock to the café and they went inside. The place was mostly packed, although there was one empty table in the middle of the floor just being cleaned by a waitress.

"Hurry; get that table!" Caroline said and the three made a beeline for it and managed to grab it, just barely beating another group to it.

"Wow, looks popular," Bonnie said to the waitress who was looking at them with amusement as she gave the table one last wipe.

"Bella and her band are playing tonight; it's always busy then," the waitress said. "I'll be right back with some menus."

The three women looked around the packed interior of the café as they waited for the waitress to return.

"Hey, look, there's that surfer dude from the beach!" Caroline said, pointing across the floor.

Sure enough, the guy who had handed them the flyer was standing there, talking with a pretty blonde girl.

"Wait; who's that standing there with them?" Elena asked, immediately noticing another women there.

The three couldn't believe it; it was Klaus's sister Rebekah! What she was doing there in the Gold Coast they couldn't figure out.

"What is she doing here?" Elena asked.

Caroline strained to listen in on the far conversation, between Rebekah and the others. She finally managed to isolate what they were saying.

"So, is Cleo coming tonight?" Rebekah asked the blonde, in a very obvious Australian accent.

"I think so, Emma," the blonde replied. "Lewis is out of town so I invited her."

"I don't think that's Rebekah," Caroline told Elena and Bonnie. "It doesn't sound like her at all."

"Keep listening," Bonnie told her. "It looks just like her."

"Even if he was in town they'd both come to hear you sing, Bella," the woman they thought was Rebekah said to the blonde.

"Wow, I guess you're not the only one who has look-alikes," Caroline said to Elena. "The one who looks like Rebekah is named Emma. And the girl she's talking to is Bella, the singer I think."

"Look, here she comes now," the woman named Emma suddenly told the other woman, pointing at the doors.

Caroline turned to look at whom the woman was pointing at and her jaw dropped. She nudged Elena who turned and stared.

"Hayley," Elena said.

"What's that?" Bonnie asked, not having seen the newcomer yet.

Elena pointed to the woman crossing the café.

"Oh; she looks just like Hayley," Bonnie said. "But I'm not sensing a werewolf, or even another vampire."

"It seems too much a coincidence for both of them to have doppelgangers here," Elena said.

They watched as the woman joined with the others and after giving each other hugs started talking softly.

"Well, I'm going to get closer and see what I smell," Caroline said. "And to listen to what they are saying."

"Good idea," Bonnie told her. "We'll wait here."

* * *

Caroline stood up and looked around, pretending to look for the facilities. She then sauntered off in the general direction of the lookalikes, trying not to look at them directly. One of the women, the one the others called Emma, looked up as Caroline walked by, but other than brief eye contact Caroline didn't look her way.

Caroline took a deep breath then continued on past the women, to where a painting of brightly colored coral and fish hung on the wall. She then stopped and pretended to look at the painting but instead she tried to understand the odd smell in her nostrils. It wasn't the smell of a werewolf, or even a vampire, but it also didn't smell quite human. There was an odd smell with a slightly fishy undertone that had Caroline suddenly thinking of sunsets on the beach.

* * *

"Try opening the curtain!" a loud voice said from the direction of the small stage. "Some moonlight would make the lighting perfect!"

"Nate, leave the curtain alone!" the blonde girl shouted over the crowd.

Caroline turned and saw that the band had been setting up their instruments around the stage. Behind the drum set a curtain hung, and as she watched the drummer pulled it open, revealing a large window, framing the full moon as it rose up in the sky.

"Mako, must go to Mako!" the woman who looked like Hayley suddenly said.

Caroline noticed that the woman was staring at the moon, through the newly opened window.

"Uh, oh, Cleo's moonstruck," the singer said to the woman who looked like Rebekah.

"Rikki!" the Rebekah-lookalike shouted, down a hall near where they were standing.

Moments later a woman wearing black shorts came out of the hall and looked around the café.

"What's going on, Emma?" the woman with the black shorts asked.

"Cleo's moonstruck, Rikki," the singer's friend said.

"Can you take her back to your office and calm her down while I get Nate to put the stupid curtain back?" the singer asked.

But before either of those things could happen the woman they called Cleo suddenly turned and ran for the door she had just recently entered through. In her haste one of her sandals flew off, spinning through the air to land against the wall.

"Too late!" the woman named Rikki said. "We'd better go after her. Bella, you get that curtain back up and then start your 1st set. Emma and I will make sure she doesn't do anything stupid!"

The singer turned and headed for the stage as the other two women turned and headed for the door. Caroline quickly motioned for Elena and Bonnie to join her as she followed the strange women back out the door in a blur.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 3, Something Fishy is Going On_


	3. Something Fishy's Going On

**Something Fishy's Going On** **\- Chapter 3 of The Meredead**

* * *

For a moment Caroline couldn't see the women anywhere, even with her vampire vision, as the moonlight was in her eyes, but then just as Bonnie and Elena came through the door she saw the two named Rikki and Emma dive off the end of the pier, near where they had tied up their rental boat. In a blur both Elena and Caroline sped to the end of the pier, but of the women there was no sign, just a few ripples in the water.

"Where did they go?" Bonnie asked as she joined them at the edge of the pier.

"They're gone," Caroline replied.

"Either they are doppelgangers or something really weird is going on," Elena said. "I wish we knew what that was!"

"Can you do a spell to see where they are going?" Caroline asked Bonnie.

"If I had an item of theirs I could," Bonnie replied.

"Wait, didn't one of them lose her shoe?" Elena asked. "Would that work?"

"Perfect!" Bonnie exclaimed. "You still have your map, Caroline?"

"Right here," Caroline replied.

"Great; all we need is that shoe and some sand," Bonnie explained.

"I'll go get the shoe," Caroline said.

"And I've got plenty of sand in my shoes," Elena said with a grin.

* * *

After Caroline surreptitiously retrieved the sandal from its place against the wall the three friends went back onto their rental boat, where there was a secluded spot to let Bonnie work a little magic. Caroline spread out the map and Elena poured out some sand from her shoes onto it, forming a rough circle around the Gold Coast. Bonnie took the sandal and sat in the boat, closing her eyes.

"Phasmatos Tribum, Nax Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem," Bonnie began to chant, and then repeated the phrase over and over.

Elena and Caroline watched as some of the sand that had been poured on the map twisted and flowed, to form a new circle around a small island not too far from the Gold Coast.

"Looks like she's on this island somewhere," Elena said after Bonnie stopped her chant. "Mako Island; don't know anything about it. But I bet those other two are going there as well."

"Let's go after them," Caroline said excitedly. "Bonnie, do you think you can find them once we're on the island?"

"This spell will pull me to them, if they are close by," Bonnie explained. "So yes, I think I can find them."

"Then let's go!" Elena said and after Caroline untied the boat Bonnie started up the engine and they headed for the channel separating the mainland from the island.

* * *

The bright, full moon was two-thirds of the way up the sky when Bonnie pulled the boat onto an empty sandy beach, past a series of coral outcroppings. In front of them the land rose up away from the moonlit beach towards the flat-topped mountain at the center of the island, obviously an old volcano. A dark, dense forest surrounded the beach.

"So which way do we go?" Elena asked as they pulled the boat up onto the beach so that it wouldn't float away with a changing tide. "There aren't any tracks or even another boat."

"Do you think they swam all the way here?" Bonnie asked. "That's pretty far."

"I think there's something supernatural about those women," Caroline said. "They had a certain smell to them that whispered magic."

"Then we'll use magic to find them," Bonnie said.

* * *

Bonnie stood still on the beach with her eyes closed and concentrated. She raised her arm and pointed up and to the left, towards a rocky outcropping on the side of the mountain.

"That way," Bonnie said and the three women examined the direction she was pointing.

A stream exited the forest and ran into the surf, in the general direction Bonnie was pointing. The banks on either side of the stream were rocky but passable.

"Up the stream?" Caroline said. "I should have worn hiking boots, not these boat shoes."

"Looks like we might be hiking a little in the stream, so your shoes will be just fine," Bonnie said with a grin. "Ready?"

"I'll lead; my vision is better than yours," Elena told Bonnie.

"Sounds great; I don't want to misstep and fall off a cliff," Bonnie replied.

* * *

Elena led the way into the forest, up the streambed. There actually was a faint trail running alongside the stream; obviously others had gone that way in the past. But of the strange women there was no sign; no footprints and no lingering smells. But Bonnie insisted that they continue up the stream.

After crossing through the dark forest they emerged out into the bright moonlight, onto an ancient lava flow. In the middle of the lava flow the stream flowed out of a small pool. A waterfall tumbled down into the far side of pool, right up against the mountain. The path they had followed split, with one path circling the pool to the left and another heading farther up into the forest to the right of the lava pool.

"Which way?" Elena asked.

Bonnie again closed her eyes and concentrated. After a brief moment she pointed to the left.

"Okay, watch your step, it's pretty rocky," Elena said as they started off around the pool.

The trail ended at a cleft in the lava where the stream from the waterfall had cut a narrow channel. Bonnie was unsure if she'd be able to jump over it; it looked pretty slick. Luckily the moon was almost directly overhead so it was quite bright out.

Caroline easily jumped over the cleft and looked around.

"There's no sign of the trail on this side; are you sure we should keep going this way?" she asked.

"Let me check," Bonnie said and closed her eyes.

Suddenly she raised her hand and pointed to her left and down. Opening her eyes she found she was pointing into shadows, under a small lava overhang.

"Can you guys see anything in there?" Bonnie asked, trying to see into the gloom but failing.

Elena peered into the space under the overhang and discovered that there was an almost invisible tunnel leading down, into the rock. The area around the hole looked very unstable and slippery.

"There's a hole there, and a tunnel leading down," Elena said.

"Let me see," Caroline said and jumped back to stand next to Elena. "You're right, and it looks like there are footprints leading both in and out of it."

"The one girl is down there somewhere," Bonnie said. "I'm sure of it."

Elena stuck her head in the hole and looked. A steep but navigable path led down a ramp, almost just like a slide. At the bottom of the ramp Elena could see a faint glow; to her vampire eyes it was quite bright.

"There's light down there," Elena told Bonnie. "I think we could climb back out this way if we don't find anything."

"She's down there," Bonnie said. "Let's go."

* * *

Elena carefully climbed down the ramp, finding that as long as she kept her feet to either side of the path she had good footing. At the bottom of the ramp the tunnel opened up onto a narrow cavern with a floor made of sand. On the far wall of the cavern another tunnel could be seen, climbing up over some rocky steps before descending out of sight. From the far tunnel came a blue glow, the source of the illumination that she had seen.

Elena was about to call up to Bonnie to come on down when she heard voices from the far tunnel.

"Don't make any noise," Elena whispered, knowing that Caroline's vampire hearing would hear her faint words, and hoping that the strangers wouldn't.

She then concentrated and could just barely understand the conversation.

"Safe, I'm safe."

"It's almost overhead."

"Then hopefully she'll snap out of it."

"There's not going to be any weird eclipse tonight, will there?"

"No, there's years until the next planetary lineup. So don't worry."

"I just don't want to lose my powers."

"Yeah, me either. But we should be safe."

* * *

The conversation didn't make much sense to Elena, but it sounded like the women they had been following. So she turned back and whispered up the tunnel for Caroline and Bonnie to come on down, but quietly.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 4, The Moon Pool_

Maybe our guests should stay away from the Moon Pool, especially on the night of a full moon. But hey, they don't know what could happen there. What does happen there? Any thoughts or observations on the story so far?


	4. The Moon Pool

**The Moon Pool** **\- Chapter 4 of The Meredead**

* * *

After a couple of minutes Elena's friends had joined her in the cavern and Elena motioned them towards the far tunnel, putting a finger to her lips to indicate that they should remain quiet. Elena led the way up the steps and down the far side, around a bend in the passage, all the while the blue glow got brighter and brighter.

At the far end of the curve the passage way opened into a large chamber. A rock spine blocked most of the view in front of them, but above them they could see that the ceiling of the chamber rose towards a roughly round opening far off in the distance above them. It appeared that they were inside the volcano and above them was its throat.

Through the opening they could see stars although there was a bright glow illuminating the side of the volcano's throat. Elena took another step around the rock spine and stopped, unable to believe what she was seeing. Reaching behind her she beckoned for the others to join her and both Caroline and Bonnie came to either side of her and stared.

In front of them, directly under the volcano opening, was a circular pool, glowing blue from the light of myriads of small glowing blue stones, in the walls of the chamber and in the pool. On the far side of the pool, under the water, a bright streaming light could be seen. Around the edge of the pool was a flat shelf, just a little under the water. But the pool was not what had rendered the three speechless; it was what was in the pool.

Floating in the pool were the three women they had chased, but other than recognizing their faces that was where the similarity ended. Instead of wearing the clothing they had been wearing before all three had on what appeared to be seaweed bikini tops. And behind each of them, incredibly so, was a golden fish tail.

Bonnie involuntarily let out a faint gasp in amazement at the sight of the three women, mermaids they appeared to be. Suddenly all three of the mermaids' heads swiveled towards them and with a cry all three dove under the water and vanished.

"Did you see that?" Bonnie exclaimed, stepping down from her vantage point onto the sand around the pool.

"Yeah, I did," Elena replied, she and Caroline following Bonnie to stand by the pool. "They looked like, uh…"

"Mermaids," Caroline finished. "They looked like mermaids."

"So where did they go?" Elena asked, looking into the pool.

"There must be a secret exit," Bonnie said, looking at the light at the back of the pool. "Look, I bet that's an underwater passage filled with light from the moon."

Bonnie pulled off her sandals and sat down on the edge of the pool.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked.

"Going to have a quick look to see if there is a tunnel and if it leads out," Bonnie replied, slipping into the pool. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

"Be careful!" Elena exclaimed as Bonnie dove under the surface of the water.

Her form could be seen under the water and it went to the far, bright spot in the pool and hovered there for a moment.

* * *

Just then a sliver of moonlight shone down the throat of the volcano, striking the surface of the pool. Looking up Elena discovered that the full moon was just becoming visible overhead, sending its rays directly down into the pool. Where the moonlight hit the pool the water started to bubble, and the surface of the pool gave off little sparks, which swirled up into the throat of the volcano.

After the surface area of the pool that was illuminated directly by the moon grew and bubbled to include the entire pool, Bonnie popped up right in the middle.

"What is going on?" Bonnie asked, treading water in the middle of the pool, completely surrounded by the glowing, bubbling surface.

"I don't know, but it started when the moonlight hit the pool," Elena told her. "Maybe you should climb out."

"Look, it's shrinking," Caroline observed.

As Bonnie swam to the side Elena could see that the part of the pool that was bubbling, which corresponded to the part illuminated by the moon, was indeed shrinking. Looking up again Elena could see that the moon was starting to disappear behind the other side of the volcano opening and after just a few more seconds it had vanished entirely. And once the last moonbeam no longer shown on the pool the surface stopped bubbling completely, leaving it mostly calm except for a few ripples from where Bonnie was climbing out.

"What was that?" Caroline asked. "Did something just erupt?"

"It looked like a Jacuzzi, except for those little sparkles that were floating up," Elena said. "What was it like to you?"

"Kind of like a Jacuzzi, like you said," Bonnie explained, having pulled herself out of the pool to drip on the sand next to it. "Although the bubbles tingled when I was right in the middle of them."

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"I feel great," Bonnie said. "Oh, by the way, there is an underwater passage that leads out. It looks like it goes into the ocean 'cause I could see fish and coral and seaweed."

"What about the women?" Elena asked.

"The mermaids?" Bonnie said with a smile. "Nope; not a sign of them. Although I bet we'd see them again back at that café."

"It's pretty late; let's go back to the hotel and tomorrow we'll swing by the café again and check them out," Elena said. "Can you hike in those wet clothes?"

"My shoes are dry and its pretty warm, so no problem," Bonnie replied. "Lead on."

* * *

Elena led the way back out of the pool cavern into the passageway and into the room with the slippery ramp. There Bonnie slipped her shoes back on and with the help of the two vampires was able to climb out of the tunnel, emerging back onto the rocky lava field.

The moon was still quite high in the sky and they were able to navigate back down to the beach with no problems. There they found their boat still safe up on the beach. Between Caroline and Elena they were easily able to get it back down into the water and Bonnie started the engine and turned it towards the mainland, whose lights could be seen in the distance across the channel.

After tying the boat up at the hotel's pier the three friends went up to their room and finding themselves exhausted turned in for the night.

* * *

Bonnie woke with a start; something was going on. She glanced at her phone and discovered that it was only two in the morning. Quietly she slipped out of her bed and walked in her bare feet over to the window and pulled back the heavy blackout blinds. Looking outside, out over the ocean she could see nothing; all was dark. Wondering where the moon was Bonnie realized she was looking east; the moon was in the opposite direction, if it was still up.

Everything else was quiet so Bonnie returned to the sofa bed and lay down. Closing her eyes she let her senses drift out but could sense nothing wrong. Shaking her head she broke her trance and let herself drift back to sleep.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 5, What the New Day Brings_

What will the next day bring? Any surprises in store for our witch?


	5. What the New Day Brings

**What the New Day Brings** **\- Chapter 5 of The Meredead**

* * *

Bonnie slowly became awake, finding herself in the sofa bed she had used since checking into the hotel. The room was still dark, but because her roommates were vampires she couldn't tell from the sounds of breathing whether they were still there. Bonnie threw the covers off of herself and walked to the same blackout curtains she had checked in the middle of the night.

There was a faint glow around the edges of the curtains indicating that it was daylight outside. She tugged them quickly apart allowing bright sunlight to flood the room; sunbeams quickly filled the room from the risen sun.

"Ouch; close the blinds!" Elena cried out.

Turning Bonnie could see wisps of smoke arising from where a sunbeam had fallen across her friend's bare arm.

"Oops; sorry!" Bonnie said and drew the blinds closed again. "I thought you were wearing your ring."

"I took it off 'cause it was all sandy," Elena explained. "I need to clean it."

"Where is it?" Bonnie asked, walking to stand next to Elena's bed. "I'll clean it off for you."

"Right there on the nightstand," Elena replied. "Thanks."

Bonnie grabbed the specially spelled ring and after making sure that Caroline was still asleep in bed she took it into the bathroom and closed the door. She then turned on the sink faucet and held the ring under the stream. She was just about to pull it back out when she felt dizzy and had to grab the sink's edge to steady herself. In the mirror behind the sink her reflection suddenly rippled and for a moment it looked like she was made of water.

Suddenly Bonnie could no longer support herself standing and fell over sideways, just missing the sink with her head. As she lay there on her stomach on the cold bathroom floor Bonnie felt that something was wrong with her legs and twisted herself and glanced down.

* * *

"What was that noise?" Caroline shouted, sitting up in bed.

"That was Bonnie!" Elena replied, jumping from her bed and running to the bathroom door, which was closed.

"Hey, Bonnie, are you okay?" Elena said, knocking on the door. "We heard you squeal!"

"You two aren't going to believe this," Bonnie said from inside the bathroom. "But come on in and see for yourselves."

Elena tried the knob and found the door unlocked. Pushing it open she stopped and stared at her friend lying on the floor.

"Is she okay?" Caroline asked, coming to stand behind Elena and looking in the bathroom. "Holy…!"

Bonnie was lying on the floor on her stomach, her upper body resting on her arms. Instead of her usual nightclothes she was wearing a bikini top that appeared to be made of seaweed. And from her waist down there was a golden fish tail, stretched out on the floor behind her, just like they had seen on the three women the night before.

"Uh, Bonnie, is that what I think it is?" Elena asked after getting her voice back.

"I think so," Bonnie said.

"You have a tail…" Caroline stated, staring.

"How?" Elena asked, completely confused.

"I don't know," Bonnie replied. "All I know is that I started rinsing off your ring and then a few seconds later I got dizzy and then a ripple went through me and then I flopped."

"Flopped?" Caroline asked.

"Flopped," Bonnie replied. "No legs."

Elena stepped in and turned off the water that was still running in the sink. She grabbed her ring from the bottom of the bowl and slipped it on her finger, pondering what to do next.

"So how do we turn you back?" Elena asked, stumped.

"Well, I changed after I got wet," Bonnie said. "Maybe if I dry off I'll change back."

"It's worth a try," Caroline said and grabbed one of the bath towels and tossed it to Bonnie who dried off her hand and arm.

After getting the last drop of water off of her skin Bonnie felt the same dizzy sensation and the ripple. And she found herself lying on the floor in her nightclothes, with her legs stretched out behind her. Taking Elena's hand she pulled herself to her feet.

"Did that really happen?" Bonnie asked.

She felt normal; her witch senses were still there but sensed nothing. Caroline sniffed and got an amazed look on her face.

"You smell just like those women did at the café!" Caroline said. "Except with a witchy underscent."

"Well, now we know what those women are," Bonnie said. "Mermaids! Who'd have thought? I still have trouble believing in werewolves!"

"So what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Caroline asked. "We go talk to those women and get them to turn Bonnie back."

"Maybe it's permanent, like being a vampire," Bonnie said.

"There was a cure for that…" Elena stated.

"Yeah, one dose," Caroline said. "And remember how that turned out!"

"Caroline!" Elena exclaimed.

"Sorry, Bonnie, maybe Elena's right," Caroline said. "We need to talk to them."

"Okay, this afternoon we go back to the café and talk to those women," Bonnie said. "In the meantime, I want to try something."

"What's that, Bonnie?" Elena asked.

"I want to go to the ocean and go swimming!"

* * *

A couple of hours later Bonnie carefully surfaced near the secluded rock outcropping they had found. Elena and Caroline were stretched out on beach towels, their sunlight protection rings firmly placed on their fingers. Both women were watching as Bonnie propelled herself up onto the sound with strong flicks of her newly acquired tail.

"Uh, a little help here," Bonnie said to Elena and Caroline, finding herself unable to get completely out of the water on her own.

"What, she spends hours cavorting in the ocean without her friends and now wants our help?" Caroline said.

"Can you believe the nerve?" Elena asked.

"Seriously guys, you need to help me before someone sees me," Bonnie said.

"She's right, you know," Caroline said.

"Okay, this time," Elena said before they both broke into grins and stood and went and pulled Bonnie up out of the surf, onto the beach behind the rocks.

With the extra towels that they had brought they quickly dried Bonnie off and as they had experienced before once she was dry Bonnie rippled and reverted to her human form.

"Thanks, guys," Bonnie told them as she stood up and reached for the towels.

"Stop!" Elena told her. "The towels are wet!"

"Oh, right, don't want to go fishy again so soon," Bonnie said. "Although it was sure fun swimming."

"You were sure down for a long time," Caroline told her.

"It's easier to hold my breath underwater," Bonnie explained. "And I can see perfectly down there."

"Sounds like being a mermaid isn't a bad thing," Elena observed.

"I still want to talk with those women from the café," Bonnie explained. "I have too many questions. But no, it's not been a bad thing."

"Well, let's go get changed and we'll boat over there," Caroline said.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 6, Looking For Answers_


	6. Looking For Answers

**Looking For Answers** **\- Chapter 6 of The Meredead**

What would you do, if you suddenly grew a tail?

* * *

After changing in the room the three friends went down to the dock. Bonnie looked apprehensively at the boat, seeing that it had water in the bottom of it.

"I don't think that's going to work," Bonnie said as the others started to get into the boat.

"What, why?" Caroline asked, standing there with one foot in the boat and one on the dock.

"The water," Elena said, realizing. "She can't get wet."

"How do you wash your face, then?" Caroline said, climbing out of the boat. "How do you get a drink?"

"Let's see if I can get changed back first before answering those questions," Bonnie said.

"Let me call a cab," Elena said, grabbing her phone.

* * *

After the short cab ride to the café, the three friends stood outside looking for the mermaids. It wasn't as crowded as the night before, although there were a few people out on the deck. A couple of waitresses came out to take care of those tables, but of the mermaids there was no sign.

"I guess we go in," Caroline said.

"Try not to scare them away, Caroline," Elena said.

"What?" Caroline exclaimed. "I'm not scary."

"Yes, but you're…" Elena started to say.

"Guys, I've got an idea," Bonnie said, interrupting them. "Why don't you go back to that moon pool and wait for me there."

"Going to force them to go there with you?" Caroline asked.

"No, but I bet you that we'll end up there, since that's their magic spot," Bonnie explained. "Besides, you two will scare them off."

"Bonnie's right," Elena told Caroline, trying to placate her. "Bonnie has a much better chance of gaining their trust, if she goes in alone."

"Okay, we'll go," Caroline finally said. "But don't keep us waiting all night while you go swimming with your new friends!"

"I won't, I promise!" Bonnie said, laughing.

"Oh, crap, now we have to get back to the hotel and get the boat," Caroline said to Elena.

"Taxi!" both of them shouted at the same time, stopping a passing taxi.

"Call us if there is a change in plans," Elena said before hurrying to the taxi with Caroline in tow.

* * *

Bonnie turned and again stared at the café.

'They might not even be here,' she said to herself before squaring her shoulders and heading for the entrance.

"Just sit anywhere," one of the waitresses carrying a tray of drinks told her as she entered the café.

Bonnie went and sat at a small table. A few moments later the waitress came back by and dropped off a menu at her table. Bonnie looked through and ordered the smoothie special, which seemed to be very popular in the café. After the waitress left with her order Bonnie sat back and looked around, trying to see if the mermaids were there.

There was no sign of any of the mermaids or their friend, the singer, in the café at all. And it didn't look like anyone would be performing that night as the stage area had been converted to several additional tables.

'Maybe they're in the back,' Bonnie thought to herself.

"Um, is Rikki here?" Bonnie asked the waitress when she returned with her drink.

Bonnie remembered that the café name also matched the name of one of the mermaids.

"Yes, she's in her office," the waitress said. "Just down that hall over there."

The indicated hall was near where the mermaids had been talking last night. Bonnie remembered that Rikki (the one in the black shorts) had come out of the hall right before the one who looked like Hayley had bolted.

"Thanks, maybe I'll go say hi after having my drink," Bonnie told the waitress and pulled enough money out of her purse to cover the drink and tip and placed it on the table.

After carefully drinking most of her drink Bonnie walked over to the hall and found that there were a couple of doors at the end of it, including one with 'Office' on it. She walked up to that door and stood for a moment, gathering her courage.

As she prepared to knock she could voices inside talking, although she couldn't understand what they were saying.

'It'd be good luck if more than one of them were in there,' Bonnie thought. 'Well, here goes.'

Bonnie knocked and the voices from inside stopped. Moments later the door opened and the woman they had mistaken for Rebekah looked out.

'Emma is what they call her,' Bonnie thought.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" she asked, seeing Bonnie there.

"Is Rikki in there as well?" Bonnie asked. "I need to talk to you."

"We're kind of busy right now," Emma told her and started to shut the door.

"It's about the island," Bonnie quickly said. "You know, Mako."

"What about it?" Emma asked warily.

"Uh, I was there last night, and, uh…" Bonnie said haltingly. "Please, can I come in?"

"Let her in," a voice said.

Emma pulled the door open wider and stood aside, letting Bonnie in. Bonnie entered the office and discovered that the girl named Rikki was behind the desk, the Hayley-lookalike Cleo was sitting on a chair, and the singer Bella was standing near a bookcase filled with pictures and knickknacks.

After she had entered Emma closed the door and went and sat on a chair next to the door, behind Bonnie.

"And you are?" Rikki asked from behind the desk.

"Bonnie," Bonnie said. "Bonnie Bennett"

"A Yank," Rikki said. "So what's this about Mako?"

"Like I said, I was there last night," Bonnie said. "And I saw you three there…"

Bonnie pointed to Rikki, Cleo, and Emma.

"And?" Rikki prompted, her face expressionless.

"Can I talk…" Bonnie said, nodding towards Bella.

"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Bella," Rikki told her.

"So we were looking around the waterfall…" Bonnie started.

"We?" Cleo asked.

"Me and my two friends," Bonnie said. "Anyway, we found a tunnel down into the caves in the volcano."

"That's interesting, I didn't know there were caves there," Rikki said.

"Right," Bonnie said. "Anyway we found this pool and in the pool we saw…"

"Saw what?" Bella asked.

"Mermaids," Bonnie simply said.

Rikki smiled and Cleo laughed, somewhat unconvincingly though.

"Mermaids?" Rikki asked with a smirk. "Were you drinking?"

"Not a drop," Bonnie said. "But we scared them and they swam away."

"Did you get a picture of them?" Emma asked from behind her.

"No, we didn't have a camera," Bonnie said then looked Rikki right in the eyes. "Although I got a good look at their faces."

"Sounds like a pretty tall tale if you ask me," Rikki said, a slight smile on her face.

"Yes, how can you prove what you saw?" Bella asked.

"No proof, although…" Bonnie said then paused.

"Although?" Rikki asked.

"Something else happened," Bonnie said. "I had gotten into the pool…"

Rikki started and Cleo gasped at that. Bonnie took a deep breath and continued.

"I had gotten in the pool to see where the mermaids had gone when the moon light shown down onto the pool."

"And what happened next?" Bella asked, looking concerned at Rikki and Cleo.

"And the pool bubbled around me," Bonnie explained.

"What about your two friends; did they get in the pool?" Emma asked from behind her.

"No, just me," Bonnie said, turning. "But that's not the really interesting part of the story."

"Go on," Rikki said, a knowing look on her face.

"Let's just say I had an interesting run-in with the bathroom faucet this morning…" Bonnie said. "Then later I swam a lot."

Bonnie watched as the four women exchanged looks.

"So, uh, Bonnie, I think we should go for a swim," Rikki said. "The five of us."

"Do you think that's wise?" Bella asked.

"She knows, Bella," Cleo said. "We need to test her."

"We could just get a bottle of water…" Emma started to say but Bonnie shook her head.

"I think we should all get wet," Bonnie said. "Don't you agree?"

"Come on, Emma, Bella, let's go for a swim," Rikki said, standing.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Bella said and they all followed Rikki out of the office.

"Hey, Rachel, we'll be back in a while," Rikki told one of the waitresses. "You're in charge."

"Thanks, Rikki," Rachel replied and returned to her customers.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 7, Full Disclosure_

Please, any reviews or comments? I'm rapidly running out of chapters that are already done and your comments could actually influence the direction that the story will go...


	7. Full Disclosure

**Full Disclosure** **\- Chapter 7 of The Meredead**

* * *

Rikki led the way out and around the back of the café, to where an old pier jutted out a little way into the canal. Bonnie could see how it could be a great place to enter the water unseen, as the café itself blocked the view from the deck to the old pier. Rikki walked right to the end of it and looked around, waiting for the others to join her. Bonnie walked up and looked down into the water.

"Give me your hand, Bonnie," Rikki told her and after Bonnie held out her hand Rikki grabbed it in a handclasp. "Okay, everyone, on three, we all dive in together."

Since Bella was joining them Bonnie gathered that she was a mermaid as well. Nodding she indicated that she was ready to dive in.

"One, two, three!" Rikki said and they all dived in, all hitting the water at about the same time.

Once under the water Bonnie opened her eyes and looked around, counting to herself. She had discovered earlier that day that about 10 seconds after getting wet the change happened. Just as she got to 10 the familiar ripple took hold of her. At the same time she saw ripples go through the other four girls and a second later she was looking at four mermaids, all with the golden tail and seaweed tops. Bonnie didn't have to look down at herself; she could feel that her tail had appeared and used it to stabilize herself in the water.

On seeing the Bonnie had a tail as well Rikki gave her a smile and beckoned for her to follow. Bonnie kept pace with the four mermaids as they swam faster and faster until they were all shooting through the ocean leaving bubbles in their wake. Bonnie recognized where they were going; it was just as she had expected. They were going to Mako.

* * *

Bonnie followed the others into the underwater passage and found herself back in the moon pool. Surfacing she found that the others were resting their bodies on the shelf with their tails out behind them. Bonnie followed suit, although with five mermaids in the pool there wasn't a whole lot of room.

"Hello, Bonnie," Elena said from the side of the cavern where she and Caroline were waiting, practically unseen.

"Its okay," Bonnie told the others as they prepared to bolt. "These are the friends I told you about."

"Yes, don't worry, we won't tell your secret," Elena said. "We just want to get some answers for Bonnie here. I'm Elena, by the way."

"And I'm Caroline," Caroline added. "Wow, this is incredible. Mermaids! And I thought it was weird when Bonnie grew a tail; now there are five of you."

"Caroline, shush!" Bonnie told her. "Let me introduce you guys. This is Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and Bella. Elena and Caroline, my friends from back home."

"So what were you guys doing here last night anyway?" Rikki asked once they had all acknowledged each other.

"Oh, just exploring," Elena replied. "Bonnie slipped down the lava tube and we followed down after her."

"I've been there," Emma said, winking at Cleo.

"After seeing you guys in the pool I followed, trying to see where you had gone to."

"And let me guess: while you were in the pool the moonlight hit the pool and it started to bubble," Cleo said. "And you felt a tingling and saw the magic."

"All true," Bonnie said.

"So what happened this morning?" Bella asked. "When did you realize something was different?"

"I was washing sand off a piece of jewelry," Bonnie said. "About ten seconds later I…"

"Flopped," Rikki finished. "Yep."

"So what's your power?" Cleo asked.

"Power; what do you mean?" Bonnie asked, confused.

She looked to Elena and Caroline, who just shook their heads.

"Mermaids have control over water," Cleo explained. "For instance…"

Cleo made a gesture with her hand at the pool and a tendril of water rose up then bent to hover over the sand next to the pool.

Cleo looked at Bella who made a different gesture with her hand at the water tendril. There was a slurping noise and the water solidified into a gelatinous ball and fell onto the sand, bouncing once before coming to rest.

Emma thrust out her hand at the ball and with a crack it froze solid, becoming a ball of ice. Rolling her eyes Rikki then clenched her hand at the ball and in a burst of steam it melted clean away.

"Wow," Bonnie said. "How do you know what power you have?"

"Just try the gestures until something happens," Cleo explained. "Just not at us, please."

"Here, let me get you a target," Elena said and from a small stream of water that was running down the wall of the cave she got several handfuls of water and poured them on the sand, where they formed a little puddle.

Bonnie tried to remember what each of the other mermaids had done to bring forth their power. First was a twisting motion, then a flat palm motion, then a clenching motion, then a twist and thrust. But nothing happened so she tried making random gestures at the puddle. When she pointed two fingers at the puddle there was a flash and the puddle turned into a pool of fire and sat there burning on the sand.

"Whoa, that's a new one," Emma exclaimed. "Water to fire!"

"Of course Bonnie's power would be fire-related," Elena whispered softly so that only Caroline with her enhanced hearing would pick it up.

Elena then went and looked closer at the burning puddle of flame.

"So how do you put it out?" Elena asked.

"I could douse it," Cleo said.

"Let me try something first," Bonnie said and twisted her fingers around.

As she did so the flames died down and went out, leaving only a slightly glowing depression of sand. It was still hot, but as they watched it began to cool and the sand lost its faint reddish glow.

"Pretty cool," Bonnie said.

"Don't get too used to it," Elena told her. "We're still trying to figure out how to change you back."

"Why would you want to change her back?" Rikki asked. "It definitely is better being a mermaid."

"Why?" Bonnie asked. "Well, 'cause… I don't know. Didn't you guys want to change back?"

"At first, but then we realized that it is awesome!" Emma replied.

"Besides, there won't be another planetary alignment that removes powers for another 50 years."

"Seriously?" Bonnie asked. "That long?"

"Every fifty years or so the planets all line up to take away tails," Cleo explained.

"Do you know of that happening to anybody?" Bonnie asked.

"There have been other mermaids over the years," Cleo explained. "50 years ago three mermaids all chose to lose their tails."

"And then there was Charlotte…" Rikki said.

"Don't remind me," Cleo said with a frown.

"Just a couple of years ago this new girl found out about the pool and became a mermaid," Rikki explained. "But she couldn't handle it and lost her tail during the alignment."

"Moral of the story – learn to control your powers and keep it secret!" Cleo said.

"I can keep it secret, that's no problem," Bonnie said, giving Elena a little glance.

"So what are you going to do now?" Bella asked Bonnie.

"Go home, I guess," Bonnie replied. "And be careful."

* * *

"If you don't mind me asking, when did you four become mermaids?" Caroline asked when there was a pause in the conversation.

"Go ahead, Bella," Emma told her.

"I became a mermaid when I was nine years old," Bella replied. "In a similar pool in Ireland."

"I wonder if there are any pools in the States?" Elena asked.

"I haven't heard of any," Rikki said. "Just this one and Bella's in Ireland."

"Were you guys that young when you changed?" Caroloine asked, indicating Emma, Cleo, and Rikki.

"Actually, we were changed only about five years ago," Cleo said. "Me, Emma, and Rikki changed right here in this pool."

"Was it an accident like me?" Bonnie asked.

"Very similar," Cleo explained. "We ended up on Mako 'cause Rikki ran us out of petrol."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Rikki protested.

"Just teasing, Rikki," Cleo said with a grin. "Anyway, we were trying to get to higher ground so Emma could use her phone and I accidentally slipped down the tunnel."

"Just like me," Bonnie said, glancing at Elena.

"We were trying to find a way out of the pool when the full moon shone on it and, well, you know."

"It seems like it's pretty easy to accidentally slip down that tunnel," Caroline said.

"Yeah, maybe we should hide the entrance or something," Emma said. "Something that we could remove if we needed."

"Well, why don't we go take a look," Rikki said. "We don't want everyone to be able to find this place; it's too magical!"

* * *

Rikki pushed herself back off of the shelf, and then with several strong flicks of her tail propelled herself up onto the sand, completely out of the pool. Emma and Cleo quickly followed their friend out of the pool, leaving only Bonnie floating in the water.

"Come on, Bonnie, it's easy!" Rikki said, wiggling her tail.

Bonnie admitted that it looked easy, so she pushed herself back off of the shelf and tried to push herself out of the water. With a squeal she found herself shooting out of the pool and landed with a thud on the sand, well away from the pool.

"You okay, Bonnie?" Elena asked, trying not to laugh.

"Fine, did you see that?" Bonnie asked, elated at her feat.

"Newbies," Rikki and Emma said in unison.

"Now hold still everybody," Rikki told them and clenched her hand.

Bonnie felt an odd sensation on her body as the water on her skin and scales heated up and turned to steam. Suddenly the now-familiar ripple went through her and she found herself back in her human (okay, human/witch) form. Next to her the water was steaming off of the others, and then with ripples all of the mermaids had returned to their human form.

"That is handy!" Bonnie exclaimed as she picked herself up off the sand. "I wonder if I could do that?"

"Try it on someone else, first!" Rikki exclaimed. "I don't want to catch fire!"

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 8, The Trouble With The Trees_

As usual, comments and thoughts are welcome!


	8. The Trouble With The Trees

**The Trouble With the Trees** **\- Chapter 8 of The Meredead**

The simplest tasks often have the largest consequences...

* * *

"Wow," Caroline said once the four previously wet mermaids had joined them. "That was so cool! I still cannot believe you guys are mermaids!"

"Yeah, who would have thought," Elena said, giving Caroline a warning look.

The two vampires stepped back and let the four mermaids precede them out of the pool cavern and into the sandy cave. Then they all carefully climbed up the chute, emerging out onto the lava field near the waterfall and pool.

After Elena and Caroline joined them they looked around at the rocks and the tunnel.

"I guess we could pile rocks up in front of the entrance," Cleo suggested.

"Too hard to take them down to get in; what'll the guys do?" Emma said.

"The guys?" Bonnie asked.

"Um, our boyfriends all know about us," Rikki confessed. "Sometimes they meet us at the pool."

"So what we need is something that is easier to move," Bella said. "How about branches and leaves?"

"That could work," Rikki replied. "Everyone go see what's available."

On the edges of the lava area surrounding the pool were thick stands of trees, including some island hardwoods. Over the years there had been several floods and droughts, killing and leaving several stands of dead trees and piles of deadfall. New growth had sprouted up through many of the piles and stands of trees, leaving in some places a tumbled mess. Around these stands the group all dispersed to find material suitable for hiding the entrance to the chute.

* * *

Elena was returning with an armful of branches that she had broken into a more manageable size. She had been very careful, as was her norm, anytime she was around things that could be used as stakes. As she approached the entrance to the tunnel she heard a scream from the far side of the lava field. Elena dropped her load on the rocks and hurried as fast as she could without giving away her supernatural nature to the other side of the rocks. At the same time Caroline hurried up from where she had been collecting brush.

"It's Cleo!" Rikki shouted to them as they approached. "She needs help!"

As they arrived where Rikki was holding Cleo up it was obvious to Elena and Caroline what the problem was. Not only could they see the jagged branch that had punctured Cleo's leg but they could also smell the blood that was gushing from the wound. The two vampires hesitated, worried that the blood smell might be troublesome, as it had been a while since they had fed. But there was something about the smell that wasn't quite right; quite right for a human, that is.

Bonnie ran up right at that moment and after kneeling next to Rikki quickly sized of the situation. It looked like the branch had punctured the artery in Cleo's leg, as blood was spurting in pulses out between Rikki's fingers. Cleo had gone completely pale and her eyes looked dazed. Bonnie looked around to see if there was anything available to her to help Cleo out, but they only had the clothes they were wearing.

Bella and Emma ran up and immediately surrounded Cleo.

"What do we do?" Emma asked, almost hysterical. "She's bleeding!"

"Is there anything we can use to stop the bleeding?" Bella asked. "Vines, or clothing?"

"Should we make a tourniquet?" Rikki asked. "That's pretty dangerous."

"There might be something in the boat," Caroline said. "But I don't know for sure."

"We don't have the time to go look, we need something right now!" Rikki exclaimed.

Bonnie turned and beckoned for Elena to approach.

"Help her," Bonnie said.

"How?" Elena asked, knowing what Bonnie was asking.

"Just do it," Bonnie replied. "They've trusted us with their secret, now trust them with yours."

"Bonnie…" Caroline started to say.

"Cleo is going to die unless you do it," Bonnie said.

"What are you talking about?" Rikki asked. "Do what?"

"Rikki, you need to trust me when I say that Elena can help Cleo," Bonnie told her. "Mermaid to mermaid, you can trust me."

Rikki looked unsure but the blood was still spurting out of Cleo's leg and she was desperate.

"Okay, do what you need to do, but hurry!" Rikki said.

Elena nodded at Bonnie and knelt next to Cleo. Grasping the end of the branch she tore it out of Cleo's leg, causing Cleo to moan and more blood to spurt through Rikki's fingers. Elena then let her fangs extend and tore open her wrist, opening her artery, causing blood to well up in the wound. As Rikki and the others looked on in shock Elena held out her bloody wrist to Cleo.

"Cleo, you need to drink this," Elena told her. "This will heal you."

There was no response from Cleo; her eyes were focused beyond Elena and not on Elena's wrist.

"What are you…" Rikki started to ask.

"Trust me," Bonnie told Rikki as Elena pressed her wrist to Cleo's lips.

At first there was no response from Cleo, but as the vampire blood pressed to her lips sent its power throughout her body she reacted by swallowing. Cleo then grabbed Elena's arm and held her wrist to her mouth, sucking at Elena's blood.

"Better give her some extra; she's lost a lot of blood," Caroline told Elena as Cleo drank from Elena's wrist.

"She's already drinking as much as she can!" Elena exclaimed. "I'm going to have to stop her in a moment."

Rikki looked on in amazement as her friend drank blood from one of the stranger's wrists. But she had to admit that Cleo was looking better and the amount of blood that was coming from Cleo's leg wound was lessening as she watched.

When the wound stopped leaking blood Elena pulled her wrist away from Cleo's mouth and gently pushed Cleo away, as she was fighting to continue to drink.

"No, that's enough, Cleo," Elena told her. "Look, you're healing."

Not only had the wound on Cleo's leg stopped bleeding but the ragged edges of the hole were closing. As they all watched the edges knitted together and sealed closed. Cleo sank back to the ground and closed her eyes and lay calmly, her wound completely healed and the color back in her face.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 9, Blood Is Thicker Than Water_

Good thing Elena was there, otherwise...


	9. Blood Is Thicker Than Water

**Blood is Thicker Than Water** **\- Chapter 9 of The Meredead**

* * *

"What are you?" Rikki whispered, seeing that Elena's blood had healed her friend. "How can you do that?"

Elena looked to Bonnie who nodded.

"I'm a vampire," Elena replied.

"A vampire?" Emma asked incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I really am a vampire," Elena said.

"You don't look like a vampire," Rikki said. "And you're in the sun."

"A magic ring that lets me go out in the sunlight without getting fried to a crisp," Elena explained.

"I can't believe this," Bella said.

"If mermaids exist why can't vampires?" Elena replied.

"Are there other vampires?" Emma asked, looking questioningly at Caroline.

"Guilty," Caroline said.

"I still don't believe…" Bella started to say.

Caroline let her fangs out and let her face turn. Seeing her both Emma and Bella took a step back.

"Believe," Caroline said with a snarl before letting herself return to normal.

"I believe!" Bella exclaimed and Emma nodded her head.

"So seriously, you guys drink blood and all that?" Rikki asked.

"Yes we drink blood, but not human blood," Elena explained. "Some vampires only drink animal blood."

"There're more?" Bella asked. "What else haven't you told us?"

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, looking at her friend. "Trust time."

"Oh, right," Bonnie said. "Um, well, not only do vampires exist, but also werewolves and witches."

"And you know this how?" Emma asked.

"Because I am a witch," Bonnie said. "Or at least I was until the moon pool."

"The fire!" Bella exclaimed. "Do witches use fire?"

"I do use fire for my spells, yes," Bonnie said. "Oh, so my mermaid power is because I'm also a witch?"

"Sounds like it," Rikki said.

Cleo yawned and sat up and stretched.

"Mmm, what a crazy dream!" she exclaimed.

"Cleo, how do you feel?" Rikki asked.

"I feel great!" Cleo replied with a big smile. "What are we sitting around for; let's go!"

"Actually a good idea," Caroline said. "Let's cover the tunnel and get off of this island before something else happens!"

* * *

Carefully they took the collected branches and covered the entrance to the tunnel. Stepping back they looked at their handiwork; now if someone were to look under the rocky overhang they would encounter what looked like flood debris. Hopefully that would keep other curious people out of their cave.

As the last of the leftovers were discarded the all headed for the edge of the lava field to start down. On the way Emma gave Elena and Caroline a closer look.

"Vampires," Emma said. "I still can't believe you guys are vampires.

"If she saysh sheesh a vampire, then sheesh a vampire," Cleo said with a smile, then hiccupped. "Oops; 'scuse me."

Cleo was standing on the rocks looking down at them.

"Uh, Cleo are you okay?" Rikki asked.

"I like witches!" Cleo exclaimed. "Theys cool!"

"What's with her?" Caroline asked. "She sounds drunk!"

"Isn't this normal?" Emma asked. "Because of your blood?"

"This is the first time someone's acted drunk from vampire blood," Elena replied. "Normally it just heals."

"Could it be because she's a mermaid?" Bonnie asked.

"Maybe; I don't know," Elena replied.

"Well, if she is drunk we'd better get her down from there," Emma told them.

"I ain't drunk!" Cleo suddenly exclaimed.

"Come down from there, Cleo," Rikki told her.

"Okay, here I come," Cleo said. "I'll jump down to you guys."

Cleo stepped back to give herself some room to step and jump, but instead she vanished backwards, out of sight. Elena and Caroline leaped up on the rock in a blur and looked for Cleo, but there was no sign of here. The rock that Cleo had been standing on was right on the edge of a cliff, high above and inlet of ocean down below.

Afraid of what she might find Elena peered over the edge. Down below, on the rocks she could see Cleo lying in a crumpled heap.

"Oh, no!" Elena exclaimed.

"What happened?" Rikki asked. "Where's Cleo?"

"She's fallen, down onto the rocks!" Caroline said, horrified.

"WHAT!?" Emma and Bella exclaimed.

Carefully the others climbed up and peered down over the cliff edge. Cleo lay unmoving down, not too far above the ocean, on a rocky outcropping that jutted out into the inlet.

"CLEO!" Rikki shouted, suddenly in tears.

"Come on, she might only be hurt!" Bella told them.

Bonnie looked at Cleo lying there on the rock, her limbs askew, and shook her head.

"It's just too far down!" she said sadly.

"No, she can't be dead!" Emma exclaimed. "We've got to go help her. Let's go!"

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 10, The Death of a Friend_

Sorry for the short chapter, but I'll make up for it in the next one...

As usual, please leave comments and reviews!


	10. Death of a Friend

**Death of a Friend** **\- Chapter 10 of The Meredead**

* * *

They all carefully climbed down off of the rocks and headed for the stream and the trail down through the forest, with Rikki, Bella, and Emma leading the way as fast as they could. Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena followed right behind them.

At the beach Emma, Rikki, and Bella ran into the surf and dove in, a flickering of tails visible moments later.

"Go on, Bonnie, we'll take the boat over!" Elena said as Bonnie hesitated.

"Hurry, guys!" Bonnie told them before she dove into the surf as well and vanished.

Elena and Caroline jumped into the boat and quickly started the engine and roared out through the rocks and around the point. Elena pointed out the narrow channel of the inlet that butted up against the rocky cliffs. As they approached the cliff they could see that the mermaids, including Bonnie, had pulled themselves out of the water on the rocks below the cliff and were steaming themselves off with Rikki's help.

Caroline pulled the boat up next to a flat rock that jutted out into the water and Elena jumped out and tied the line around a scraggly bush that was growing in the cracks between a couple of rocks.

Cleo was lying on a rock column about twenty feet above them. Elena jumped, easily soaring up to land on the rock next to Cleo. A quick check of Cleo revealed that she was in fact dead: no pulse, no rise and fall of her chest, and her neck at an abnormal angle. Elena reset Cleo's neck back into its normal position then gathered her body up in her arms. Looking down at the horrified mermaids waiting for her she took a deep breath then jumped, landing lightly next to them.

Elena gently laid Cleo's body down on the rock and shook her head sadly at Caroline who was watching from the boat.

"I'm sorry," Elena said.

"She's dead?" Rikki exclaimed. "No, it can't be true!"

Rikki checked for a pulse and, finding none, started giving Cleo CPR.

"Help me, guys!" Rikki shouted. "She can't die!"

Bella and Emma knelt next to Cleo's body and grabbed her hands as Rikki continued to try to pump air into Cleo's lungs. Elena and Bonnie stood there, wanting to comfort them, but not knowing what they could say.

"Rikki, stop," Emma finally said, crying. "She's not coming back."

"No, I don't believe it," Rikki said, also crying.

Rikki continue to try to force air into Cleo's lungs and start her heart but nothing worked. Finally Bella reached out her hand and put it on Rikki's arm.

"Rikki, let her go," Bella simply said.

Rikki sat back on her feet and screamed. She then fell forward and pressed her face into Cleo's still body.

"Can't you do anything?" Emma asked Bonnie. "Isn't there a witch spell or something that could bring her back?"

"I don't have the power to bring her back," Bonnie explained. "But maybe I could…"

"Don't!" Rikki said forcefully, staring at Bonnie. "No false hopes."

"Let's at least get her in the boat and take her back to the mainland," Elena said.

* * *

Elena picked up Cleo's body and lightly vaulted into the boat. After laying Cleo down she beckoned for the others to join her and after the mermaids had gotten into the boat Bonnie untied the line and jumped in to join them. Caroline then turned the boat around and headed out of the inlet, through the rocky channel, into the ocean and towards the mainland.

The ride back was quiet; no one felt like talking. Even though the island wasn't far from the mainland to the mermaids it felt like the longest boat ride they had ever been on.

It was just starting to get dark as they approached the Gold Coast. At the entrance to the harbor district Caroline throttled back and turned to the mermaids.

"Where?" Caroline asked. "Back to your café?"

"No, we should take her to your and Will's place," Rikki said to Bella who nodded. "Its quiet and out of the way; we can figure out what to do next there."

Bella gave Caroline directions to her and Will's house on the pier. It wasn't too far but it quickly got dark on the water. Luckily Caroline had no problem seeing in the dark and after a few more minutes she pulled the boat in alongside the pier, then jumped up and tied it off.

Elena vaulted up with Cleo's body onto the pier and waited with Caroline as the others slowly climbed up.

"Uh, Caroline," Elena whispered.

"What?" Caroline replied, also in a low whisper, too soft for the others to hear.

"She still had my blood in her," Elena said.

"Oh, that's right," Caroline said. "That means…"

"She's going to wake as a vampire…" Elena said, finishing the thought.

* * *

Bella led the way to the shack at the end of the pier and inside. Once inside Elena laid Cleo's body on the bed in the side room and closed the door. They then all went and sat around Will and Bella's cluttered main room.

"So what do we do?" Emma asked. "We can't just leave her in there."

"There're going to be a lot of questions," Bella told them. "Where, how, why we came here, etcetera."

"We need to get a hold of Lewis," Rikki told the others, her face in her hands.

The room became silent as everyone thought about Cleo and what they were going to do next.

* * *

Suddenly Elena thought she heard a sound from the side room, and turned her head, listening.

"What…" Rikki started to ask, noticing Elena's concentration.

"Shh!" Elena said, standing.

Elena walked to the door to the side room and stopped, listening intently. Then they all heard it; the sound of someone gasping for breath.

"Is that Cleo?" Bella asked.

Rikki, Bella, and Emma jumped to their feet and ran to the door as Elena threw it open. Inside they could see Cleo, sitting up on the bed, looking directly at them. Rikki was about to rush inside with joy when Elena put out her hand, stopping her and the others from entering.

The instant the door opened Elena had sensed the presence of a newly turned vampire in transition. Knowing that Cleo wouldn't be able to control herself around humans she stopped them from entering.

"Careful," Elena said. "She's brand new and ravenous. Until we're sure she's in control please stay away from her."

"What; it's Cleo and she's alive!" Rikki told Elena.

"Um, no, not really," Caroline said, coming up from behind them.

"What's going on?" Cleo asked from inside the room. "Why am I in Bella's guest bed?"

Elena again held up her hand to stop the others.

"So, Cleo, you took a little tumble," Elena explained. "We brought you here while you were, uh, out."

"I remember falling off the rock," Cleo said, getting out of bed. "Ooh, why am I so hungry?"

"Cleo, you need to stay in here for a little while longer," Elena told her. "Everyone, just stay where you are and let me explain."

"Explain what?" Cleo asked, coming closer to the door. "Oh, what's that smell? It smells delicious!"

Cleo tried to leave the room but Elena blocked the doorway, preventing her from exiting.

"Caroline, we need the cooler from the boat…" Elena told Caroline who nodded and headed for the front door.

"And you, Cleo, please sit down and let me explain something," Elena then told Cleo.

"Hurry, I'm starved!" Cleo said and sat back into the chair next to the blocked doorway.

* * *

"What's going on?" Emma asked Bonnie, who had joined the group at the door.

"Tell them, Elena," Bonnie told her friend.

"So vampire blood not only heals people who are badly hurt, as we saw earlier…" Elena started to say.

"And makes mermaids drunk, 'causing them to fall…" Rikki interjected.

"Rikki!" Emma interrupted. "Cleo would have died without Elena's help."

With Rikki mollified Emma indicated for Elena to continue.

"So, if someone ingests vampire blood and then dies with that blood still in their system," Elena continued. "They also become, um, a vampire."

"What; you're saying that Cleo is a vampire?" Bella asked. "She looks like her normal self."

"She's in transition; halfway between life and death," Elena explained. "And now she has a choice; to finish the transition and become a full vampire, or…"

"Or what?" Emma asked.

"Or die," Elena said.

"What?!" Rikki exclaimed. "But she's alive; look at her! Cleo, how do you feel?"

"Hungry!" Cleo replied. "Can we go get something to eat now?"

"She's ravenous; she is craving blood," Elena explained. "If she doesn't feed in the next twenty-four hours she'll die."

"And if she does feed?" Bella asked.

"Then she becomes a full vampire," Elena replied. "I'm sorry, but those are the choices."

Caroline suddenly blurred back into the shack, carrying a Styrofoam cooler.

"Thanks, Caroline," Elena told her, taking the cooler and setting it on the floor inside the side room.

"What's in there?" Cleo asked, intrigued.

Elena took off the top, revealing a several IV bags filled with blood.

"Cleo, you need to feed," Elena told her. "Until you transition only human blood will do."

Cleo walked to the cooler and looked at the pile of IV bags inside. As the others watched she reached out her hand and picked up the top bag. She looked at the blood bag and then at her friends, who were watching her through the doorway.

"I'm so hungry," Cleo whispered, looking at the IV bag.

She suddenly ripped open the top of the bag and squeezed the contents into her mouth. Dribbles of blood ran down the side of her chin as she sucked the contents of the bag down. With a growl Cleo dropped the bag and suddenly a ripple went through her. But instead of looking momentarily like she was made of water it looked like she was made of blood, before phasing into her mermaid form and flopping over onto the floor.

"Cleo!" Rikki exclaimed, seeing her friend in mermaid form.

But it was not the same as before. True she had on the golden seaweed top and a golden tail stretched out behind her, but deep red streaks like veins ran through the tail. Her eyes had turned red and there were fangs visible in her mouth. The veins surrounding her eyes were also visible and deep red, just like in her tail. It looked just like a mix of Elena or Caroline's true vampire face and Cleo's mermaid form.

* * *

Cleo snarled, still hungry. Grabbing the edge of the cooler she spilled its contents out onto the floor. Quickly she started grabbing the IV bags and with her newly formed fangs she punctured the bags and sucked them dry, tossing the empty bags aside.

After having consumed the entire cooler full of IV bags Cleo rolled over onto her back, feeling satiated. Her fangs retracted and the deep red veins in her face and tail faded, as did the red color in her eyes. It left her lying on the floor looking like a normal mermaid. And then moments later she rippled, again with that weird blood ripple, turning back into her human form.

Cleo stretched and smiled, but saw only looks of horror and revulsion on the faces of her friends.

"Uh, what just happened?" Cleo asked, looking at the pile of discarded blood bags. "And what was in those?"

"Cleo, we need to talk," Elena told her as her friends nodded.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 11, Changes_

Comments and suggestions welcomed!


	11. Changes

**Changes** **\- Chapter 11 of The Meredead**

How would you react, becoming a mermaid/merman or a vampire?

* * *

"Ouch, that burns!" Cleo exclaimed, pulling her finger back from the shaft of sunlight.

It was morning of the day after Cleo's big change. The seven women had spent the previous evening talking until it had gotten quite late. They had decided that for the time being it would be better for Cleo to stay with Elena and Caroline, as going home would definitely put Lewis and her family at risk. Even Bonnie was at risk, so they all decided that she could stay at Emma's house, until they got things straightened out with Cleo.

"Okay, you were right," Cleo told Elena and slipped the sunlight protection ring she had gotten from Bonnie back on her finger.

"Don't you forget it!" Caroline told her. "Without the ring you have to stay out of the sunlight."

Cleo stared at the painful red burn on her finger as it slowly contracted.

"So what else do I need to know?" Cleo asked the two once the burn had completely faded. "Do I need to go coffin shopping?"

"No, a bed will do just fine," Elena said.

"Wait; what happens when I get wet?" Cleo asked. "Will the ring vanish like the rest of my clothes?"

"You mentioned that the moonstones don't vanish; maybe it applies to all magical items," Caroline suggested.

"We need to test this out before you accidentally get wet in the middle of the day," Elena told her. "Don't want you bursting into a ball of flame."

The three went to the bathroom where Cleo, wearing the sunlight ring, got into the tub and Elena poured a small bit of water on her arm. Ten seconds later the odd blood ripple went through her and she turned into her meredead form: mermaid tail, seaweed top, red streaks down her tail, and sharp fangs sticking out of her mouth. Around her neck was the blue moonstone, although there was a flicker of red visible in its heart. And on her finger was the sunlight ring.

"That's good; the ring stayed," Elena said. "But what a sight you are!"

"That is just creepy," Caroline told Cleo. "Why are your fangs out?"

"Cleo, are you hungry again?" Elena asked.

"Now that you mention it, yes," Cleo said.

"Let's try something," Elena suggested and went out into the sitting room.

Moments later she returned with an IV bag which she handed to Cleo.

"Drink this down; that should quell your hunger," Elena told her. "But try not to spill it."

Cleo dutifully tore into the bag with her fangs and carefully drank the blood down. After she did so the red streaks in her tail faded and her fangs retracted so that she looked just like one of the other mermaids.

The last time she had fed she had only stayed in her normal mermaid form for a second or so, but this time she didn't change back to human.

"Interesting," Elena said. "It looks like you only become meredead when you're hungry and wet. Let's dry you off and see what happens."

Caroline passed Cleo a towel and she dried off her arm. There was the odd blood ripple and Cleo changed into her human form.

"Looks like you've got three states," Elena told Cleo as the three left the bathroom to sit in the sitting room. "Human, meredead, and mermaid."

"And maybe vampire," Caroline added.

"Oh, right," Elena said.

"So why couldn't I retract my fangs?" Cleo asked.

"Sometimes you can't help it when you're hungry," Caroline told her. "If I get a strong whiff of blood when I'm hungry they sometimes just slip out."

"Are you feeling hungry now?" Elena asked.

"Not at all," Cleo replied.

"Can you let your fangs down?" Caroline asked.

"Why would I want to do that?" Cleo asked instead.

"We're just curious to see if you can," Elena told her.

Suddenly Cleo's fangs extended in a blur and her forehead darkened as her veins popped out. She snarled at both Elena and Caroline before relaxing, her fangs retracting back into her jaw and her face clearing.

"Hmm, no problem there," Elena said. "You know, that was, uh, disturbing."

"So, for the time being, you need to avoid being around humans when you're hungry," Caroline told Cleo.

"What about Lewis?" Cleo asked. "I can't stay away from him!"

"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Elena explained. "You're too new to have any control."

"He's my boyfriend," Cleo said adamantly. "I need to talk to him. Besides, he could help!"

"Okay, but one of us needs to be there, to make sure you don't kill him," Caroline said. "I don't think you want that, do you?"

* * *

At the same time Cleo was coming to terms with her new state Bonnie was having a grand time, swimming with Rikki, Emma, and Bella. Bonnie's initial determination to reverse her transformation into a mermaid had quickly wavered. She found that she loved swimming almost effortlessly around the reef and finally, later that day, after they had played with a whole pod of dolphins she decided that she didn't want to change back.

"That was so incredible!" Bonnie exclaimed after the four mermaids surfaced carefully not far from the café, at a hidden bend in the canal. "Oh, I loved it!"

"So still want to lose your tail?" Rikki asked Bonnie with a grin. "We could have Lewis check again for when the next alignment will be."

"No, let's hold off on that for a while," Bonnie told her, smiling. "I'm having too much fun."

"I do think we should tell Lewis about Cleo, though," Emma said as Rikki started to steam them dry. "He needs to know and besides, who else is going to help her find a cure."

"He's probably inside," Bella said, after the water ripple went through her and she regained her human form.

"Everyone set?" Rikki asked, seeing that all four of them had turned human again. "Let's go."

* * *

As the four mermaids approached the café they met Elena, Caroline, and Cleo coming from the opposite direction.

"Cleo!" Emma shouted on seeing her friend and hurried forward to give her a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Other than getting burnt by the sun and growing nasty fangs when hungry and looking like this…" Cleo said, letting her fangs extend.

Her friends and Bonnie took a step back in alarm. Seeing their apprehension Cleo retracted her fangs.

"I guess I'm not okay," Cleo replied.

"Have you told Lewis yet?" Rikki asked.

"That's why I'm here," Cleo replied. "And they're here to make sure I don't hurt him."

"Could you?" Emma asked.

"I don't think so," Cleo replied. "But we're not taking any chances."

* * *

Lewis was indeed in the café, plopped down at one of the interior tables with his laptop. As Cleo walked towards him the others followed, a few steps behind, although Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie stayed back, far enough away to not confuse Lewis but close enough to be able to jump in and stop Cleo from doing something she couldn't help.

As Cleo approached his table Lewis stood up and smiled a greeting. But the look of greeting changed to one of confusion, seeing the seriousness on Cleo's face. Looking past Cleo he could see the other three Australian mermaids, who also were looking pretty serious.

"Uh, hi Lewis," Cleo said. "Why don't you sit back down for a minute."

Lewis sat back at the table and Cleo slid onto a chair, on the opposite side. Bella, Emma, and Rikki stood a few steps back, waiting for Cleo to start.

"What's going on?" Lewis asked, his eyes sliding from Cleo to the others.

"Lewis, you're smart," Cleo said. "I need your help."

"This sounds awfully familiar," Lewis said with a grin. "What do I need to analyze for you now?"

"Lewis, this is serious," Rikki exclaimed, coming forward to stand by the table. "Listen to her."

"I had a little accident, and, well," Cleo said, looking back towards Elena for support.

Lewis's eyes followed Cleo's and he saw three unfamiliar women standing back by the door, watching them and waiting. One of the women gave him a little smile and gestured with her head for Cleo to continue.

"Who are they?" Lewis asked. "Did they discover your secret?"

"It's not them I'm worried about," Cleo said. "They've been helping me."

"So what's wrong then?" Lewis asked, turning his attention back to Cleo.

"Well, I've been having a problem with, uh, sunlight and my diet has changed," Cleo explained.

"What do you mean?" Lewis asked, still not getting it.

Cleo looked around the interior of the café, suddenly finding it too noisy and crowded.

"You know, let's go outside where it's a little more quiet," Cleo said, grabbing Lewis's hand.

She pulled Lewis out of the café and onto the deck, to a more secluded corner. Looking back she could see that Rikki, Bonnie, and Elena had followed them and were watching her from the doorway, holding back to give her some privacy.

"Lewis, I don't know how to say this so I'm going to show you," Cleo told him.

Cleo looked around at the few people on the deck and no one was watching. Looking back to Lewis she let her fangs extend, knowing that the veins on her face would also show as well.

Lewis gasped and took a step backwards, banging right into the railing, unable to go any farther.

"What in the world?" Lewis asked, staring at Cleo's face. "What are those things in your mouth?"

"Those are fangs," Cleo said, a faint snarl in her voice. "Here, let me get rid of them."

With an audible 'snick' she retracted her fangs back up into her jaw, returning to her normal appearance.

"What happened to you?" Lewis asked, still pressed back against the railing.

"Lewis, I was, well, uh, oh the heck with it," Cleo said, stammering. "Lewis, I'm a vampire!"

"You're a what?" Lewis asked.

"A vampire!" Cleo exclaimed. "You know, bloodsucker, night-lover, undead."

Lewis looked closer at Cleo, trying to figure out if she was playing some type of trick on him. She looked perfectly normal to him right then; as a matter of fact she was standing right in the middle of the bright sun.

"Uh Cleo, it's sunny out," Lewis said. "I thought vampires couldn't go into the sun."

Cleo held up her hand so that Lewis could see the ring on her finger.

"See this ring?" Cleo asked. "Bonnie, one of those women back there, made this for me. It keeps the sun from burning me to a crisp."

"How'd she do that?" Lewis asked.

"Uh, she's a witch," Cleo explained. "And since a few nights ago also a mermaid."

"During the full moon?" Lewis asked, glancing back at the doorway where he could see Rikki and two of the unknown women watching.

"Yes, in the moon pool," Cleo replied.

"You guys have been busy, haven't you?" Lewis asked. "That doesn't explain the, uh, fang thing."

Cleo waved over the watching women and Lewis watched as Rikki and the two unknowns came towards him. Behind them he could see the other mermaids, plus another women that he didn't know.

"Lewis, this is Bonnie, the witch I told you about," Cleo said. "Now also a mermaid."

"A witch, huh," Lewis said, looking at Bonnie. "What does that mean?"

Bonnie closed her eyes and suddenly the unlit candle on the table closest to Lewis burst into flame.

"It means I can do magic," Bonnie said.

"Oh, this is too much," Lewis said, stepping warily past Cleo and the two newcomers to walk forward and look at the candle.

"So what's your mermaid power?" Lewis then asked, turning back to Bonnie.

Bonnie looked around a spied a glass full of water on another table. She made a gesture at it and suddenly the water turned into fire. She let it burn for a moment then extinguished it, leaving the glass glowing slightly red and completely empty.

"Water to fire, that's a new one," Lewis said.

"And this is Elena, she's a …" Cleo began to say.

"Let me guess, also a witch, right?" Lewis asked.

"No, Lewis," Cleo said. "Elena is a vampire."

Lewis looked and found that she was wearing a ring that looked similar to the one that his girlfriend was now wearing.

"Mermaids, witches, and vampires," Lewis said. "Sure, why not?"

"Don't forget werewolves," Bonnie interjected.

"What?" Lewis and Cleo exclaimed at the same time.

"Don't worry; there aren't any here that I know about," Bonnie said sheepishly.

"Lewis, can we sit down?" Cleo asked.

"Sure," he replied and they all sat at the table with the lit candle.

* * *

"So could someone tell me how all this fits together?" Lewis asked.

Between Cleo, Rikki, Elena, and Bonnie they told the story of how Bonnie had found the moon pool and had been transformed, and then how Cleo had gotten hurt, healed, had died, and then had come back to life as a mermaid vampire.

Elena told a little bit about Mystic Falls and the Salvatore brothers; not the complete story but enough to explain about how she became a vampire. Bonnie talked about witches in her family and how her powers were associated with fire. After Emma, Bella, and Caroline joined them on the deck Caroline told about how she had become a vampire and the problems with bloodlust.

When all had been said Lewis just sat back and looked at everyone.

"You know, when I first encountered you guys as mermaids I thought I was going crazy," Lewis said. "And then I realized it was true. But all this?"

"It's all true, Lewis," Cleo told him.

"Okay, let's say that it is," Lewis said. "What I don't understand is what I can do to help you."

"We need you to help us figure out how to turn Bonnie and me back to what we were before," Cleo said.

"Actually, just how to change Cleo back," Bonnie admitted. "I've, uh, decided that I like being a mermaid."

"What; you're okay with being a fish?" Caroline asked her. "No more swimming pools or showers…"

"Yeah, I've thought about it and I like it," Bonnie said. "It's better than being an undead bloodsucker."

"Hey!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Sorry," Bonnie said. "Lets just focus on helping Cleo get rid of being the Meredead."

* * *

"The problem is this: I don't have any idea how to reverse being a vampire," Elena said. "At one time there was a cure, but there was just a single dose and its been used."

"But there was a cure," Lewis stated. "That at least is a start. Let me do some poking around, including getting some blood from you, Cleo."

"Eww," Cleo said. "No needles for me."

"Do you want a cure?" Lewis asked and Cleo nodded. "Then I need some blood."

"Give him some blood, Cleo," Elena said. "Maybe it will help."

* * *

After Lewis left with Cleo, Elena and Caroline to go to the lab at the university to take some blood, Rikki ordered them all a round of drinks and they relaxed at the table on the deck.

"Think Lewis can come up with something for Cleo?" Bella asked the others.

"He did figure out the alignment that took care of Charlotte," Emma told her. "But not a cure for us."

"He didn't get a chance, really," Rikki added. "Once we realized it was better being mermaids than not."

"That didn't stop him from experimenting though, did it?" Emma asked. "No, if anyone can find a cure it'll be Lewis."

"So Bonnie," Rikki asked. "Are you guys going to be able to stick around here for a little bit, while Lewis does his research?"

"It'll be a sacrifice, but I guess we'll have to," Bonnie said with a smile on her face.

After finishing their drinks Rikki prepared to head back inside the café to find Zane, but before she could go Emma stopped her.

"Say, Rikki, Bonnie's looking a little dry," Emma said. "Want to go with us for a swim?"

"Is that what you want to do, Bonnie?" Rikki asked.

"Oh, could we again?" Bonnie asked and jumped to her feet.

"Zane can wait," Rikki said and the four headed for corner and a safe place to dive into the canal.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 12, Trouble_

Please, comments or suggestions would be appreciated!


	12. Trouble

**Trouble** **\- Chapter 12 of The Meredead**

Will Cleo be able to come to terms with her new condition?

* * *

The next day Elena and Caroline decided that Cleo was in control enough to swim with the other mermaids, but only if she took it easy and did not exert herself too much. Elena told Bonnie to keep an eye on her, and to get her away from the others or any humans they might encounter if she looked liked her control was slipping.

It was pretty easy to talk Rikki into going with them again on a swim. So in the afternoon all five of the mermaids joined up at the café and used the secluded spot around the back to dive into the water. Once they all had their tails, and Bonnie had checked Cleo's to make sure that the meredead stripes weren't visible, Emma led the way to one of her favorite spots: a section of reef between Mako Island and the mainland.

The currents of the ocean in that part of the reef had formed a series of coral arches, large enough for mermaids to swim through. In addition to the arches there were several caves, extending back into the coral. Because of the many natural hiding places around the arches an abundance of reef life flourished there: eels, snakes, and sea cucumbers could be seen swimming around, in addition to the many species of fish and turtles. Even the dolphins liked that part of the reef and Emma had enjoyed many hours playing with the fun-loving creatures, in and around the arches.

As they approached the reef arch area Bonnie noticed the many schools of fish and the bright colors of the reef. As she circled a large fan coral she noticed what appeared to be a metal structure, off to the side where two huge coral buttresses joined. Bonnie signaled to Cleo, who was the closest and pointed towards the framework. Curious, the two swam over to investigate the structure, finding a framework that appeared to be made of aluminum.

Beneath the metal structure there were several cages: one made of wooden slats and another made of the same metal as the framework. Suspended in the metal cage was a fish net and caught in the net was a striped angelfish, which was struggling to free itself.

Cleo looked around and found a sharp piece of coral that was lying on the white sand at the bottom of channel. Using the coral she was able to cut through the net, freeing the angelfish, which swam away slowly and vanished into a hole in a nearby wall of coral.

After freeing the angelfish Cleo dropped the piece of coral back onto the sand. Bonnie watched it drop, but noticed that there seemed to be an abnormally large number of coral fragments below the structure on the sand. Bonnie circled over the bottom looking at the coral pieces and noticed a trail of coral fragments leading from the metal framework around a large coral wall. Bonnie followed the trail around to the far side of the wall and stopped in shock.

In front of her a big chunk of reef had been hacked out of the surrounding coral, leaving a jagged and ugly scar in the wall. At the bottom of the cut was a pile of coral rubble and partially buried with the coral fragments were several dead fish; parrotfish it looked like.

Bonnie looked for any of the other mermaids and saw Emma swimming not too far away. With a couple strong flicks of her tail Bonnie darted to where Emma was and indicated that she should follow her. As Emma followed Bonnie back towards the framework her happy smile changed to one of puzzlement, and then to an angry frown when she saw the destruction of the reef. Cleo was floating there scowling at the destruction but when she saw Bonnie and Emma circling she indicated that they should surface. Bonnie followed Emma and Cleo up towards the surface where they carefully popped up into the air directly over the metal framework below.

"What the heck was that?" Emma exclaimed after making sure no one was in the area.

"Someone's trapping fish," Cleo said angrily.

"And they tore out a big chunk of reef!" Bonnie said.

Rikki and Bella's heads suddenly popped up next to them.

"Hey what's going on, guys?" Rikki asked.

"Are you okay, Cleo?" Bella asked. "You're not having problems with the, you know…"

"No, I'm okay," Cleo replied. "Other than being mad at what we found down below on the reef."

"What did you find?" Rikki asked.

"Come and see," Emma told her and submerged.

Quickly the others dove under with a flick of their tails and followed Emma down to where the framework was. Rikki stared at the destroyed reef and traps in shock as Bella, Bonnie, and Emma started to circle outwards, looking for more damage or traps.

Cleo floated motionless, staring at the traps when suddenly she lashed out at them with her tail, smashing the wooden trap into pieces and denting the metal trap. Another blow from her tail flattened the metal trap and dented the framework, causing the entire structure to sway precariously.

Rikki watched in shock as Cleo pounded the structure over and over until it collapsed completely and sank to the sandy bottom, along with the remains of the traps it had supported.

Cleo turned to face Rikki with a look of triumph on her face. But her fangs had extended and several deep red streaks had appeared in her tail. Rikki quickly signaled for Cleo to follow her to the surface, carefully popping up once she was sure it was clear.

"Took care of that!" Cleo snarled once her head popped up. "They'll think twice before doing that again!"

"Uh, Cleo, your fangs," Rikki told her.

Cleo felt her teeth with her fingers, finding that indeed her fangs were completely out. She ducked her head underwater and could see that the meredead stripes were also visible in her tail. Closing her eyes Cleo forced herself to relax and as she calmed down the stripes faded and the vampire fangs slowly retracted until she looked like her normal mermaid self.

"Sorry about that," Cleo said once she had surfaced again. "But that got me so mad!"

"Are you in control again, or do I need to get Bonnie?" Rikki asked her.

"No, I'm okay now," Cleo said.

* * *

There were a couple more splashes near them as the other mermaids surfaced.

"What happened down there?" Bella asked.

"Yes, suddenly that thing was all crumpled and resting on the bottom of the ocean," Emma said.

"Cleo is what happened," Rikki explained. "She smashed it."

"I was so mad I lost control for a moment and destroyed it," Cleo explained. "But I'm okay now."

"We should probably go back," Bonnie told the others. "I'm not strong enough to stop her if she loses control again."

"Seriously, I'm okay!" Cleo exclaimed. "But we can go back if you guys want to. Besides, I want to see if Lewis has come up with anything."

* * *

Once back on land in their human form they parted ways, with Bella going off to find Will and Emma heading for her house. Bonnie told Emma that she would come by once she had handed Cleo off to Elena and Caroline.

"So I'd better get in and make sure Zane hasn't destroyed the place," Rikki told Cleo and Bonnie as they approached the café deck.

"So how are you two doing?" Cleo asked with a faint smile.

"Oh, I'm not mad at him anymore," Rikki said. "Well, not as mad at him, let's just say."

Rikki opened the doors and they went in. It was not too busy as it was mid-week, but the waitresses were all in place and it looked like they were doing their jobs. Zane wasn't out flirting with any of them; that was another good sign. And the customers who were there all looked happy.

Rikki sighed in relief and nodded at Cleo and Bonnie before heading for the office. Cleo watched her go, then turned and looked around for Lewis. He was in one of the booths, surely because the Wi-Fi was so much better in the café than at his place. Seeing him sitting there Cleo felt a twinge in her belly and she wondered what it was.

Bonnie looked around the interior of the café, looking for either Elena or Caroline who were supposed to be meeting them, but there was no sign of either of them.

"Hey, I don't see Elena so I'm going to call her; are you okay?" Bonnie asked Cleo.

Cleo thought about the twinge she had just experienced but nothing else happened so she dismissed it and nodded to Bonnie.

"Okay then, I'll be just outside; be careful!" Bonnie told her.

If the cell-phone coverage for Bonnie's provider wasn't so awful inside the café she would have stayed there, but to use her phone she needed to step outside. Cleo couldn't get into trouble that fast anyway, Bonnie thought.

Lewis looked up and seeing Cleo gave her a big smile. Cleo smiled back at him and walked over and scooted around into the booth to sit next to him.

"Hi, Cleo, where're the others?" Lewis asked.

"What do you mean?" Cleo said.

"It seems lately that there is always someone following you around," Lewis said with a grin.

"I'm doing fine," Cleo said, but inwardly she wasn't sure.

Now that she was sitting right next to Lewis Cleo noticed how human he was. A wonderful smell swirled from him and she inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent. The twinge in her stomach turned into full-blown hunger pangs and her eyes drifted away from his face towards the side of his neck, where she could see the blood pulsing under his skin in time with the loud beating of his heart.

"So I've been looking at the analysis of your blood and so far I'm not seeing anything that could be used to reverse the change," Lewis was saying, Cleo realized.

She concentrated on being calm and just listening to him.

"I can see your mermaid cells, but just like your tail there's these weird red structures that have infiltrated them. And I don't know how to separate them from each other."

Cleo involuntarily reached out her hand and put it on Lewis's shoulder and let her fingers slide onto the base of his neck. With a smile Lewis turned to look at Cleo but as he saw her he flinched back with a gasp.

"What's wrong?" Cleo asked, unsure why Lewis was reacting the way he was.

"Cleo, your teeth, I mean, your fangs are out!" Lewis exclaimed.

"So?" Cleo asked. "I'm just feeling a little bit hungry."

"We should go get you something to eat," Lewis said quickly, obviously scared as a note of terror had crept into his voice.

"Lewis, look at me," Cleo said, looking into his eyes.

Lewis looked into Cleo's eyes and suddenly they twitched. Cleo smiled, her fangs sharp and wicked looking.

"See, I'm not so scary," Cleo said. "Now how about letting me have just a little bit of your blood, just so I'm not so hungry."

Lewis nodded, in a daze from Cleo's compelling, and turned his neck. Cleo quickly pressed her mouth against his neck and bit down, sending his blood spurting into her mouth.

* * *

After just a couple of rings Elena answered the phone.

"Hey, is that you Bonnie?" she asked.

"Yes, where are you guys?" Bonnie asked. "I'm here at the café and you're nowhere in sight."

"Oh, sorry, we're actually down at the end of the pier, watching some, uh, boats," Elena replied.

Bonnie walked to the entrance to the pier and looked down towards the end. She could see Caroline and Elena down at the end, talking to a couple of guys there.

"Looking at boats, huh?" Bonnie said with a smirk. "I can see what you're looking at."

The guys in question appeared to be quite hunky and Bonnie wondered if she should join them.

"Where's Cleo?" Elena asked, still talking on the phone.

"Inside, with Lewis," Bonnie replied.

"Is anyone with her, other than Lewis?" Elena asked, suddenly concerned.

"No, she said she is okay," Bonnie said.

"Uh, oh; I've got a bad feeling about this," Elena said and disconnected the phone.

* * *

Elena vanished in a blur from the end of the pier, hurrying at top vampire speed to the café doors and inside. As she entered the strong smell of fresh blood hit her nose and she instinctively turned in the direction where the blood smell was the strongest. Cleo was there, in a booth, next to Lewis, but Cleo's face was pressed against Lewis's neck.

Elena blurred to stand next to Cleo and pulled her off of Lewis, causing blood to spill down Cleo's chin. Cleo snarled loudly at Elena, causing a passing waitress to squeal and about faint at the sight. Cleo tensed her muscles and was about ready to spring upon Elena when the odd blood ripple ran through her and she turned into her meredead form, falling over onto the bench in the booth.

"What is that?" the waitress shrieked, preparing to bolt, but Elena caught her hand and stared into her eyes.

"It's nothing, just a costume for a horror movie that's being filmed in the area," Elena told her. "Now you should go into the back and tell Rikki we need her, then wait there."

As the dazed waitress headed back towards the office Caroline and Bonnie came into the café and saw what was going on. In a blur Caroline was standing next to Lewis and examined the bite on his throat.

"How is he?" Elena asked.

"He's okay, she didn't take too much," Caroline said.

"Cleo, you need to snap out of this!" Elena said to Cleo, who was struggling to stand but was unable to with her tail. "Cleo!"

Cleo finally looked at Elena then reached up and felt the blood on her face. A look of horror replaced the snarl and she looked back at Lewis.

"Oh no; what did I do?" Cleo asked in shock.

"He's going to be okay," Elena told her. "We're going to give her some of our blood so that the bite will heal, then he'll be fine."

Caroline raised her arm to bite it, but Cleo grabbed her by the hand.

"No, I'll do it," Cleo said determinedly. "It's my fault so I should heal him."

"Hey, what's going on?" Rikki asked, coming from the office. "Uh oh, why is Cleo in that form?"

"Uh, she got a little too close to Lewis, but he's going to be okay," Caroline told her.

"What? She bit him?" Rikki asked angrily. "I thought you guys were going to stop her from doing that!"

"I thought she was okay," Bonnie said guiltily. "The swim today must have worked her up."

"What worked her up?" Elena asked.

As Cleo tore open her wrist and offered some of her blood to Lewis, under Elena's close supervision, Bonnie explained about the damage to the reef and the traps.

Elena tightened her lips as Bonnie told her story and kept an eye on Lewis as he drank. Once he had gotten enough Elena nodded and Cleo pulled her wrist away. They all watched as the bite wound in Lewis's neck started to close, as did Cleo's wrist wound.

"Okay, he's going to be fine," Elena said. "Now stop worrying about him, or the reef, and let us take care of you!"

"Why are you in this form?" Caroline asked. "After you drank from the bags at Will's place you changed back."

"I don't know," Cleo said. "But I do know that I'm still hungry."

"Maybe that's it," Elena said. "She might be in this form until she's no longer hungry."

"I'll go get a bag from the boat," Caroline said and vanished in a blur.

Moments later she reappeared with an IV bag and gave it to Cleo who tore it open and drank. When she was done with the bag she sighed and there was a ripple that ran through her. Once it was done Cleo was back in her human form, with not a trace of fang, blood, or mermaid tail.

* * *

"Uh, what just happened?" Lewis asked a couple of minutes later, looking around.

He saw Cleo sitting in the booth, looking at him with a mixture of guilt and pity. Caroline, Bonnie, and Rikki were all standing around him, looking at him with worry.

"Wait, did you just bite me?" Lewis asked Cleo, who hid her face in shame.

"I'm sorry, Lewis, I couldn't help it," Cleo said, sobbing. "I don't know what came over me."

"She really couldn't help it Lewis," Elena said.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have left her with you alone," Bonnie said.

"Damn right," Rikki exclaimed.

"It won't happen again," Bonnie said determinedly.

Lewis could tell that Cleo was feeling really guilty about what she had done and he realized that it was her vampire instincts that had forced her to do what she did.

"Hey," Lewis said to Cleo. "It's okay, we're going to figure out a cure. It just might take some time."

Cleo gave Lewis a tentative smile, seeing the forgiving look on his face. But then the smile changed to a frown.

"But while you're doing that we're going to stop those people from ruining our reef, right?" Cleo asked, looking at Bonnie and Rikki. "We must!"

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 13, Leads_

Told you there was trouble...


	13. Leads

**Leads** **\- Chapter 13 of The Meredead**

Leads towards solving the mysteries are found...

* * *

Cleo had just left with Elena and Caroline for the night, but only after Elena had promised Rikki to not let her out of their sight. Bonnie said good night to Rikki in her office, and set out for the short walk back to Emma's place. But before she got very far the neighborhood near the café faded and she found herself standing in the interior of her grandmother's house.

"Grams!" Bonnie exclaimed, seeing her grandmother standing in the middle of the room. "Why have you brought me here?"

"You don't have much time," Sheila told her granddaughter. "The full moon is approaching soon. Once that is past there is no changing back."

"Uh, Grams, I've decided that I don't want to change back," Bonnie explained.

"I'm not talking about you, Bonnie," Sheila said. "I understand your decision, although so that you remain in balance your witch powers will be diminished. No, I am talking about your new friend Cleo."

"How can we change her back?" Bonnie asked excitedly. "Is there a cure?"

"I can only say that there is power in the pool; pass that onto Cleo's friend, who is closer than he thinks," Sheila said. "Remember: the full moon!"

Her grandmother's house faded and Bonnie found herself standing in front of the door leading out of the café. Shaking her head she left the café and walked onto the pier before pulling out her phone and dialing the number that Cleo had given her for Lewis.

* * *

"Uh, hello?" she heard Lewis say once the call connected. "Who's this?"

"Lewis, this is Bonnie," she told him.

"Oh, hi Bonnie, I'm doing fine."

"Oh, that's good to know, but that's not why I called. I need to talk to you."

"What about?" Lewis asked.

"I've got some information about a cure for Cleo, but I don't understand it."

"Where'd you get the information?"

"Uh, from my grandmother," Bonnie told him.

"Is she here on vacation as well?" Lewis asked.

"No, she's dead," Bonnie explained.

There was silence from Lewis's end of the call.

"She was a really strong witch and is still able to communicate with me from the other side," Bonnie told him. "Trust me, what she told me could help you find a cure."

"So what is the information?" Lewis finally asked.

"Grams says that there is power in the pool," Bonnie told him. "But that we have to be ready for the full moon, otherwise it will be too late."

"She must mean the moon pool," Lewis said. "But how could the pool help? Did she say anything else?"

"No, that was all," Bonnie told him. "Does that mean anything to you?"

"Could be; I'll have to go out to Mako and think about it," Lewis said. "Thanks; that does give me a lead."

"Let me know," Bonnie told him and then disconnected the call. "I hope it helps!"

* * *

Elena and Caroline took Cleo on a walk around Surfer's Paradise, visiting several of the popular nighttime hangouts there.

"Tell us what you're feeling," Elena told Cleo as they sat on either side of her at a bar, a shot of tequila in front of each of them.

"Guilty, for biting Lewis," Cleo said.

"Understandable," Elena told her. "That's a good sign, though."

"How do you guys do it?" Cleo asked. "How can you stand it?"

"As a vampire your emotions and feelings are magnified," Caroline told her. "But you really have only two options."

"Three options, actually," Elena said, correcting her. "You can either handle the emotions, or you can turn them off and you don't want to do that."

"Why?" Cleo asked. "Sounds like it would be nice not having the guilt or worry."

"Because then you truly become the monster," Elena explained. "True, there's no guilt but also no remorse. And then you don't care what you do to others…"

"Oh," Cleo said, toying with the tequila glass sitting on the bar in front of her.

The drink didn't look all that appetizing.

"What's the third option?" she asked finally, thinking she already knew the answer.

"You let the sun take you," Elena told her.

Cleo's control wavered and she gulped the shot down, coughing as the potent liquid ran down her throat.

"I don't drink," Cleo said in a whisper, putting the empty glass back down.

"It reduces the strength of your emotions," Caroline told her. "I didn't drink either, but it's better than the alternatives."

The three sat quietly for a few moments, deep in thought. After downing her shot Elena looked at the bartender behind the bar.

"Another?" Elena asked the others.

Caroline downed hers and nodded as Cleo shook her head. Elena waved at the bartender who smiled and walked down to stand in front of them.

"Ladies?" he asked.

"Another for me, please," Elena told him.

"Same here," Caroline told him.

"And for you, miss?" the bartender asked Cleo with a smile.

"No, thanks," Cleo told him.

"Are you okay, Miss?" the bartender asked Cleo as he filled up Elena and Caroline's glasses. "I'd hate for a pretty woman like you to be sad."

"You do not want to know," Cleo told him, staring into his eyes.

There was something about the pretty brunette that made the bartender feel a sense of dread and he tore his eyes away from her to look at the other two women she was with. But there was no explanation to be found there either, so he quickly finished filling up the other two glasses, then filled up the middle girl's glass anyway.

"On the house," he told her and quickly hurried to the other end of the bar.

* * *

"Did you feel it?" Elena asked.

"Feel what?" Cleo asked, staring at the drink.

"When the bartender was here, did you feel anything?" Elena repeated.

"Other than wanting to bite him…oh, that's what you meant," Cleo replied. "Yeah, I could feel it, the urge to feed."

"It never really goes away," Caroline said, downing her second shot.

Cleo looked down at the bartender who was serving a beach blonde. He must have felt her looking at him because he looked up and gave her an uncomfortable smile. Cleo looked away and watched as Elena downed her second shot. Changing her mind, Cleo picked up the shot glass and downed the fiery liquid before slamming the glass down on the bar.

"Lewis had better find me a cure," she said.

* * *

Early the next morning Lewis got up just as the sun rose and put his specimen kit into his boat, along with his favorite fishing pole. Once his supplies were all onboard Lewis cast off his line and headed towards the channel between the mainland and Mako Island.

Normally Lewis didn't encounter any other boats on the crossover to Mako, but midway across he saw a solitary boat moored over the arches section of the reef, at the mid-channel point. Slowing he pulled up along side, looking to see if there were any problems. Instead he saw a man wearing a wetsuit sitting on the side of the boat, next to a water crane that had a line running down into the water.

"Everything okay there?" Lewis called out as he idled the boat.

"Yeah, everything's fine," the guy called out.

"Cool," Lewis said and gave the back of the guy's boat a quick look-over before opening the throttle on the outboard and turning back towards Mako.

Lewis had recognized the operator of the boat as Bruce Anderson, a local fisherman who occasionally supplied the water park with fish for their tanks. It would not be strange to find him fishing in the channel, but the crane was not something that you'd normally use for fishing. There were several other things odd about the boat; first he had recognized the crumpled remains of an underwater trap frame that was sitting on the deck. Second, he had caught a glimpse of what looked to be brain coral in a tub.

Once he was out of sight of the boat he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called Cleo. But after several rings it went to her voice mail.

"Hey, Cleo, Lewis here," he said. "Just passed Bruce Anderson on his boat above the arches. I think he might be involved in what you told me about yesterday. I'm on my way to Mako; I'll try to call you on the way back."

The cellular coverage was spotty around Mako Island; Lewis had a theory that the same magic that existed around the moon pool also interfered with cell phones. During past full moons he had noticed increased amounts of static the closer he had gotten to the island.

After leaving a similar message on Emma's phone Lewis headed towards Mako, for the beach that was closest to the trail up to the land entrance to the moon pool. Once he had pulled his boat up onto the sand and secured it, he shouldered his pack and set off through the jungle.

* * *

Lewis stepped into the moon pool cavern and looked around at the now familiar sight. He remembered how it had been before the girls had cleaned it up, how debris and fragments of the wall had been strewn all around the room. But now it looked almost like it had when he first encountered the pool, when the girls wanted his help to try to reverse the transformation. Before they had realized that being a mermaid was a gift.

Lewis opened his backpack and removed his sample case. From the case he removed a couple of sterilized vials, into which he added water from the moon pool and from the small stream that cascaded down the cavern wall. Just to make sure he also took a sample of sand and a cracked blue crystal. The samples all went into his case, which Lewis then put back into his backpack.

Before leaving the cavern Lewis looked up at the throat of the long-extinct volcano.

"Wish I could take a sample of moonlight; that's the one thing missing today," he said before heading for the chute.

As Lewis sped back towards the mainland in his outboard he noticed that the Anderson boat was no longer moored over the reef.

'Good, maybe he's given up after what the girls did to his stuff,' Lewis thought.

* * *

Back on the mainland Lewis headed for his lab at the water park, where the vial of blood that he had taken from Cleo was stored under refrigeration. After setting out all of the samples Lewis opened his notebook and formed his plan of attack.

"I hope Bonnie's grandmother is right," Lewis muttered as he retrieved the first sample from his matrix.

* * *

Both Bonnie and Emma slept in the morning. After a leisurely breakfast Emma checked her voice mail and found the message that Lewis had left for her.

"Bonnie, you up for a swim?" Emma asked her.

"That's a stupid question," Bonnie told her with a grin.

"Good; I want to go scope out that reef section again," Emma explained. "Lewis said he saw someone out there this morning."

Once in the water and in their mermaid forms, Emma and Bonnie swam at top mermaid speed out towards where the traps had been discovered. The two surfaced far enough away to not be seen and saw that there weren't any boats in the area.

"Looks like the guy Lewis saw has left; let's go see what he did," Emma said.

The two submerged and swam to the arches area of the reef. In the place where the traps had been anchored they found that another framework had been installed. A brand new trap had been suspended below the new framework, although the trap was empty.

Frowning Emma tugged and yanked at the netting in the trap and was able to rip it out of the frame. After making sure that the trap was unusable the two swam around the reef but couldn't see anything else that was out of order. The two then sped back towards the mainland where they were supposed to meet Rikki and Bella at the café.

Behind them, at the site of the trap, several well-hidden underwater cameras continued to record video of the area. In the early afternoon a solitary diver swam down and examined the trap and collected the hidden cameras.

* * *

 _Continued with Chapter 14, Retaliation_

Please hang in there! It's hard to work and write at the same time...


	14. Retaliation

**Retaliation** **\- Chapter 14 of The Meredead**

* * *

"So there was another trap there," Bonnie told the others once they had all gathered at the café later. "This guy is not giving up."

"I took care of his trap," Emma told them. "But I don't think he will stop."

"Later we'll try to figure out how to put a stop to his poaching," Rikki said. "But for now just sit back and enjoy the show."

* * *

Elena and Caroline warily joined the others in the café, unsure how Cleo would react to the crowded establishment. Before coming they had used another one of their emergency blood bags from the hotel; unless Lewis came up with a solution they were going to have to take Cleo hunting, to keep her from attacking humans.

"I can't see myself sucking on a kangaroo," Cleo told them. "Can't we go find some more IV bags?"

"Unless you have an 'in' with a local hospital I'm afraid that's out of the question," Elena told her. "Let's just hope that your boyfriend figures something out."

* * *

Lewis had spent most of the afternoon working in the lab, having tried all sorts of combinations of moon pool water and Cleo's blood. He could tell that the water was having a strange effect on Cleo's blood cells, but as fast as the water changed them the cells regenerated. Something was missing so Lewis decided to start at the beginning and run through another set of tests. Before starting he sent off a quick text to Cleo, explaining that he wouldn't see her at the café, that he was working hard trying to figure out her predicament.

Retrieving a full set of sample dishes Lewis went about adding a few cells of Cleo's blood to each disk. He then turned to a clean page in his notebook and created a new matrix.

* * *

It was music night at the café, and Bella and Nate's band were playing. Soon Rikki had to leave them at their table and help Zane and the other waitresses filling orders. Luckily there were no mishaps and the band played almost flawlessly and all too soon it was over for the night.

After the customers had left Rikki met the others before they left, including Cleo and her two vampire escorts.

"So how did it go tonight, Cleo?" Rikki asked.

"I did better tonight," Cleo said, giving Caroline a glance. "It didn't affect me as much."

"That's great!" Emma said. "Maybe Elena and Caroline won't have to monitor you twenty-four hours a day."

"Not until you can get through the whole day without having to drink half a bottle of tequila first," Elena told Cleo.

"What?" Bella and Rikki exclaimed.

"Cleo, you don't drink!" Emma told her.

"Uh, alcohol dulls vampire senses and feelings," Cleo explained to her shocked friends. "Makes it easier to resist the bloodlust."

"You cannot be drinking yourself silly every day," Bella told her.

"It's better than drinking someone else dead every day," Cleo replied.

"I sure hope Lewis is making some progress," Rikki said. "Where is he, anyway?"

"I got a text from him earlier," Cleo told her. "He's at the lab, trying to figure this out."

"If anyone can do it Lewis can," Emma said.

* * *

Lewis jerked awake and about fell of his chair. He had been looking at samples under the microscope for so long that he had dozed off. Yawning he decided that he was done for the evening when he noticed that one of the sample dishes was clear, whereas all of the other ones were tinged with red from Cleo's blood.

Quickly he took the disk and put it under the microscope. Putting his eye to the lens he turned the focus knob, bringing Cleo's cells into clear detail. In that sample Cleo's cells were clear of the strange, vampire elements.

"Why was this one different?" Lewis said, trying to remember what he had done to that sample.

Retrieving his notebook he looked up his notes on that dish, only to find that it was one of the control samples. But it was the only one of the controls that had cleared.

"There must be another factor," Lewis mumbled, trying to solve the mystery.

He looked at where he had put the dish, near the others in the control group, but he couldn't see any differences between the placement of the cured sample and the others. All of the dishes were identical, and he had followed standard procedure for all of them when he cleaned and sterilized them.

"What is it?" Lewis muttered, drumming his fingers on the table.

There was a small patch of moonlight shining in from the window onto the table near his fingers. Lewis moved his hand so that his fingers were in the little patch and continued to drum. With a start he looked down at his fingers and then back at where the dish had rested.

Lewis looked outside, quickly ascertaining which direction was west and which was east. Back inside his lab he squinted at the window and traced out the path of the moonlight with a pencil. Looking at the line he discovered that the moonlight patch had crossed right over where the sample dish had been.

"That's it; moonlight!" Lewis said. "But where can I get moon pool water and moonlight together in sufficient quantities to change all of her cells back?"

The absurdity of his question hit him moments later.

"Duh, the moon pool during the next full moon!" Lewis exclaimed. "I bet that's it! But it can't be that easy; what else was in the sample?"

There were only three things that had come together in that sample: Cleo's blood, moon pool water, and moon light.

"I wonder…" Lewis thought, thinking of one more experiment to try. "I'll have to go back out to Mako tomorrow and try."

* * *

"So tomorrow we go watch for that poacher," Emma told the others.

"Right; let's meet here first thing after the sun comes up," Rikki said.

"You guys going back to the hotel?" Bonnie asked Elena as they prepared to leave.

"We're actually going to go hit some bars," Elena said. "You know, prepare for tomorrow."

"She needs to handle this without the booze!" Bonnie told her friends.

"I know, I know," Elena replied. "Maybe we'll just go straight back to the hotel and sleep."

"I would suggest you do so!" Bonnie told them and hurried to join Emma for the walk back to Emma's house.

* * *

Early the next morning Lewis took the vial of blood he had gotten from Cleo and put it on ice. After packing his supplies he jumped in his boat and started back towards Mako. As he left the mainland he sent a quick text to Cleo, telling her that he was going to the moon pool.

* * *

At the same time Lewis was preparing to motor across the channel the mermaids were gathering at the café pier, including Cleo, with Elena and Caroline in their rental boat.

The girls were formulating a plan for monitoring the reef when Cleo's phone pinged.

Cleo looked at the message and smiled.

"Lewis says he's on to something and is going out to Mako to try an experiment," Cleo told the others. "I sure hope he's figured this out!"

"That's great, Cleo!" Rikki said, giving Cleo a hug.

When Rikki pulled back she immediately noticed a red twinge in Cleo's eyes.

"Uh, Cleo, your eyes!" Rikki exclaimed, stepping back.

"Let me see!" Elena told them and she and Caroline took a look at Cleo's face.

"Are you hungry again?" Caroline asked. "You just had some last night!"

"Maybe she goes through blood faster than you or me," Elena told Caroline. "We'd better get her back to the hotel before she loses control."

"Okay, meet you at the reef?" Emma said.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Cleo said.

* * *

The four mermaids swam quickly out to the arches area of the reef, surfacing well away to see if there were any boats visible. Seeing that there wasn't a single boat anywhere in sight the girls relaxed and prepared to find places to hide around the reef.

"There're those caves near the arches, that'd be a good place to hide," Emma told Bonnie as they prepared to dive.

"We'll have to surface every now and then to breathe, though," Bella reminded them. "Be careful!"

They submerged and headed for where the traps had been anchored, but when they arrived at the spot there was nothing there. Someone had removed all trace of the traps and the framework.

Bonnie looked around at the reef wall and suddenly saw something twinkle in the coral. She gestured to Emma that she was going to investigate and swam closer, but only saw a myriad of holes on that side.

'Maybe what I saw was on the other side,' Bonnie thought and with a flick of her tail she darted over the wall to examine it from the far side.

On the far side of the wall Bonnie could see several cables attached to a black box, embedded in the reef. When Bonnie tugged on one of the cables a small tube with a glass end came out of the hole that had been drilled through the reef.

Bonnie turned the tube over in her hand and noticed that there was a glowing red LED light on one end.

'It's a camera!' Bonnie thought to herself and dropped the cable, intending to swim over and warn her friends.

* * *

Once in the moon pool cavern Lewis removed the chilled vial of Cleo's blood and extracted a couple of drops with his micropipette. Reaching out his hand he held the device out over the surface of the moon pool and looked at the water. It was smooth and clear, with its natural slight blue tint the only color visible.

Lewis pressed the release button and the two drops of Cleo's blood dropped into the pool. Where the drops hit a small whirlpool formed, sucking the drops down. As Lewis watched the whirlpool reversed, sending a tendril of water up and out of the pool.

The tendril grew until it was about three inches in diameter and four feet high. As if it could sense Lewis it bent over and extended towards him. Lewis held absolutely still as the tendril approached his face. When it was within about four inches of his mouth the tendril stopped, pulled back, and with a blur it shot directly at Lewis, striking him just below his eye and knocking him back unconscious on the sand.

* * *

There was suddenly a muffled boom that resounded around her underwater and Bonnie saw a huge net shoot out from the other side of the reef wall, propelled by explosive charges. Peering around the end of the reef wall Bonnie saw that a huge fishing net had completely covered the area around the arches, trapping her friends underneath it. Luckily for her the net hadn't covered her as well.

Seeing that Rikki, Bella, and Emma were trapped under the net Bonnie looked around for something to cut them free. But instead she saw several trails of bubbles coming closer. Ducking back behind the wall Bonnie watched as three divers, in full scuba gear, holding spear guns, swam up and looked at her mermaid friends through the net.

'I've got to get some help!' Bonnie thought to herself as the divers studied the mermaids. 'Wait; wasn't Lewis heading out this way?'

Bonnie quickly darted along the base of the reef wall, keeping as close to the base of the coral reef as she could, until she was clear of the area. Then, in a trail of bubbles, she swam at top mermaid speed towards the underwater entrance to the Mako Island moon pool.

* * *

 _Continued with chapter 15, Unleashed_

Will Bonnie be able to get any help from Lewis? Or is Lewis the one who needs help?

As usual, comments and reviews appreciated! Thanks for reading...


	15. Unleashed

**Unleashed** **\- Chapter 15 of The Meredead**

* * *

Bonnie surfaced in the moon pool and immediately saw Lewis lying on the sand.

"Lewis, give me a hand here!" Bonnie called out.

But it quickly became apparent to Bonnie that Lewis was unconscious. Cursing her lack of mobility she rested and tried to figure out what to do.

With her tail she splashed water up onto the sand. Bonnie then pulled herself out of the pool onto the sand as quickly as she could and and using her mermaid power turned the puddles she had created into little pockets of fire. As the flames burned around her the heat quickly dried her off and she rippled, turning back into her human form.

Bonnie extinguished the pockets of fire and hurried to where Lewis was sprawled on the sand and examined him to see what was wrong. But other than a nasty bruise under his eye he looked fine.

Bonnie shook Lewis and rewarded by his eyes opening and him looking at her. He looked a little dazed as he sat up, and felt under his eye, wincing as he encountered the bruise.

"Ouch, what hit me?" Lewis said. "The last thing I remember was watching a tendril of water from the pool, and then wham, something floored me!"

"Lewis, I'm sorry you got hit, but we really need your help!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Divers have trapped the girls at the arches, and I don't know how to free them!"

"That is not good!" Lewis told her. "If your secret gets out you'll be hounded forever!"

"I know; what are we going to do?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, first I'm calling Cleo; maybe she has an idea," Lewis said and fished his cell phone out of his gear and pressed the quick dial button for his girlfriend.

* * *

Cleo, Elena, and Caroline were just pulling into the hotel pier when Cleo's phone rang.

"It's Lewis; I wonder if he has some good news!" Cleo exclaimed, seeing his name on the caller ID.

"Hey, Lewis, what'd you find out?" Cleo asked one the call connected.

"Cleo, listen," Lewis said quickly. "Rikki, Emma, and Bella have been trapped by divers, at the reef!"

"Stop the boat!" Cleo exclaimed to Elena and Caroline. "The girls are in trouble!"

"What; where?" Caroline asked.

"Back at the reef!" Cleo said. "Get moving!"

Cleo's eyes had immediately taken on a red tint as she had heard the news from Lewis and Elena looked at Cleo in alarm.

"You need to feed first!" Elena told her.

"There's no time, oh the hell with it!" Cleo exclaimed and before either Caroline or Elena could stop her she dove overboard and vanished.

Just a few seconds later there was explosion of bubbles from under the water and then Elena and Caroline saw the flash of an orange and red streaked tail and then a tube of bubbles shooting away from them at top speed.

"Oh, oh, follow her, quickly!" Elena told Caroline who turned the boat around and pushed the throttle forward to max.

"Uh, Lewis?" Elena said into Cleo's phone. "Cleo's on her way there right now, but she's in the meredead form!"

"You've got to stop her!" Lewis exclaimed. "Who knows what she might do."

"We're coming as fast as we can!" Elena said as Caroline turned the boat directly for the channel.

* * *

"Stop who?" Bonnie asked Lewis in the cavern. "Cleo?"

"Yes, she's on her way, full speed, and I'm afraid she's not going to be able to control herself!" Lewis told her.

"I'll try to stop her," Bonnie told him and dove into the moon pool.

Once the transformation to mermaid was complete Bonnie quickly swam out the tunnel and then with powerful flicks of her tail headed back to the arches.

* * *

Cleo's vision was red as she swam as fast as she could, towards the arches reef area. Her goal: rescue her friends and take down as many bad guys as she could find. Concerns: none. She would do whatever it took to rescue her friends, even if it meant killing. The plan: attack, subdue, and ask questions later. Maybe even get a meal out of it.

Cleo suddenly stopped, seeing a couple of fluorescent colored sea scooters, several scuba tanks, and a bundle of spears all held down with weights on the sandy floor of the channel. Angrily she bent each of the spears and then gave the sea scooters a solid whack with her tail, shattering each one. The tanks shot off like rockets, each one having had its valve torn off.

Once the divers' gear had been destroyed Cleo paused and sniffed the water. She could make out the scents of three humans and three half-humans, who she realized must be her mermaid friends. There was also the faint scent of a fourth mermaid, but her senses told her that it was older and the person was no longer in the area.

'Bonnie,' Cleo realized.

But the three strong, human scents were still there and Cleo snarled, before shooting out of the water to land directly over where the divers were tightening the net around her friends.

* * *

"Faster, Caroline!" Elena exclaimed. "Or she'll have killed them all!"

"Almost there," Caroline said, giving the throttle a shove as she tried to coax a little more speed out of the engine. "One more minute."

"That might be too late," Elena said.

* * *

Bonnie approached the arches area and stopped, hiding behind the coral reef. She was worrying about whether she would be able to see the bad guys, or be in a position to see Cleo as she sped in. She needn't have worried.

* * *

With a big splash Cleo hit the water and dove right at the three divers. Before they knew what had hit them Cleo smacked one of the divers with her tail, cracking his facemask and knocking him unconscious.

The first thing the second diver noticed was a rush of bubbles and then his friend was sinking to the bottom, being pulled down by the weight of his gear. Turning he gasped into his mask, seeing something right out of his nightmares, swimming right towards him.

The second diver, Tim, was a friend of Bruce Anderson, who had convinced him to come with the promise of a hefty wad of cash. Tim hadn't believed Bruce's stories about mermaids on the reef, even after seeing the video footage showing something that looked like mermaids wrecking the traps. But the amount of cash that Bruce had promised was large enough for Tim to suspend this belief and to agree to come help.

When he had first seen the mermaids trapped underneath the net he had realized why Bruce was willing to pay that type of money, and he had wished that he had held out for more. But now, seeing the creature swimming for him he was wondering if he should have had come at all!

It looked like a mermaid, but mermaids weren't supposed to have glowing red eyes and a mouth full of nasty looking teeth! Tim quickly raised his spear gun and shot, the compressed air sending the barbed spear speeding at the thing in a rush of bubbles.

Cleo didn't think, she acted. Easily grabbing the spear out of the water Cleo threw it back, right at the diver who had shot it. Before the diver had a chance to react the spear had shot right through his buoyancy vest, pinning him to the reef wall.

Cleo sensed that she had scratched him as she could smell blood in the water, and could see a small red haze surrounding the diver's midriff, leaking out around him in the water. Cleo was just about to rush in for the kill when she heard the sound of another spear gun and felt a pressure wave racing towards her.

Spinning she jerked out of the way as another spear zipped past her, to harmlessly strike the reef wall. The third diver dropped the spear gun and turned to flee, seeing that his attack had missed, but before he could even get moving Cleo had caught up to him and had grabbed him by the flipper.

* * *

Bonnie watched as Cleo disabled the first two divers, the grabbed the third before he had a chance to flee. Before she could protest Cleo whirled the diver around and ripped the top half of his wet suit off. Bonnie started forward but quickly stopped when Cleo snarled at her in warning then sunk her fangs into the diver's bare neck.

Up on the surface Bonnie could see the hull of a boat speeding into the area. Recognizing it as the rental boat Bonnie swam for the surface, popping up right next to it as Caroline cut the throttle and the boat slowed.

"Guys, Cleo's feeding off one of the divers and I don't think she's going to stop!" Bonnie told them.

"Can't you stop here?" Caroline asked.

"Of course she can't stop her," Elena said, before Bonnie had a chance to reply. "She's completely vamped out. I'll have to do it."

"Can you do it, before you, you know, drown?" Caroline said.

"I don't know," Elena told her and prepared to dive into the water. "Bonnie, take me down. And please make sure I make it back up."

* * *

Elena took a big breath of air and dove over the side. Once under water she grabbed Bonnie's hand and let Bonnie pull her with strong strokes of her tail down to where Cleo was feeding. Below them the net was still in place, preventing the mermaids from surfacing.

Elena gestured for Bonnie to free the girls and swam the last few yards down to where Cleo had trapped the last diver against the reef, and was slowly sucking the blood out of him. Sensing that someone else was there Cleo spun her prey around so that her tail was between him and Elena, preventing Elena from grabbing him.

"Cleo!" Elena shouted, blowing some of her precious air out trying to make the sounds.

But Cleo was mostly out of her mind in the bloodlust. So Elena grabbed Cleo by the tail and pulled. But underwater Cleo was stronger, and she used her tail to smack Elena with it, knocking Elena back into the coral wall.

Elena could tell that the diver didn't have much life left to him, so she kicked off of the reef wall and managed to plow right into Cleo, knocking her back, away from the diver, who floated slowly away from them. Cleo snarled, making a sound that was halfway between the song of a humpback whale and the roar of an African lion.

"Cleo!" Elena shouted again, using up the last of her air and grabbed Cleo around the waist, trying to keep her strong tail away from her.

Cleo fought to throw off Elena's hold, until with her last bit of energy Elena swung her around and forced Cleo to look around and see the results of her rampage. One diver was floating unconscious below them, near the net, another diver was pinned to the coral wall with a spear, and the third was slowly floating away in the faint current.

The red in Cleo's eyes slowly faded as she became aware of what she was doing. The red streaks in her tail started to fade as well, as Cleo shook her head, clearing herself from the bloodlust.

Cleo looked at Elena and mouthed, 'Are you alright?' Elena nodded and mouthed, 'I'm fine.' Cleo turned and swam down to see if Bonnie needed help; as she left Elena involuntarily took a breath, sending a jolt of seawater into her lungs, cutting off the rest of oxygen to her brain. As Elena's vision faded she could see Cleo diving deeper to help free her friends.

* * *

After letting Elena go to stop Cleo Bonnie dove deeper and yanked on the net surrounding the other mermaids, but it had been pulled taut and was anchored to bolts threaded through the coral wall. Not having anything to cut the net with, Bonnie looked to see if Emma, Bella, or Rikki had anything that would help her.

But the three mermaids under the net had their eyes closed and Bonnie realized that they were running out of air and were conserving what little they had. Bonnie looked around in despair, but then suddenly remembered her mermaid power.

Bonnie concentrated and gestured at where the net was anchored to the coral and watched in satisfaction as a ball of orange flame appeared, surrounding the anchor point. Bonnie tugged on the net and after a bit of pull the net broke free of the wall. Quickly Bonnie burned away several more anchor points, enough to release her friends.

* * *

As Bonnie prepared to pull the net apart Cleo appeared, without the marks of the meredead. Cleo grabbed one side of the net and Bonnie the other, and between the two of them they were able to pull the net completely away from the other mermaids below. Cleo grabbed Emma and Bella, and Bonnie grabbed Rikki, and together they swam for the surface.

As their heads broke into the air Rikki, Bella, and Emma gasped, taking in the life-giving air. Bonnie took a quick breath and then dove back down.

"Are you guys okay?" Caroline asked from the boat, floating next to where they surfaced.

"Now we are," Emma said after taking several deep breaths of air.

"Didn't think we were going to survive that," Bella said. "If Bonnie hadn't burned the net apart."

"And Cleo took out the divers," Rikki told Caroline.

"Yeah, I almost killed them," Cleo explained. "Elena managed to stop me just in time."

"So where's Elena?" Caroline asked as Bonnie's head suddenly broke through the surface again.

"Here she is," Bonnie said, pulling Elena's head up out of the water.

"What's wrong with her?" Cleo asked. "Is she breathing?"

"No, I think she drowned," Bonnie told them.

"What?" the other mermaids exclaimed.

"Oh no, we were fighting!" Cleo said frantically. "She must not have had enough air to get back to the surface!"

"Don't worry about it, Cleo," Caroline told her. "Just help me get her into the boat."

"Don't worry about it?" Cleo said. "How can you say that?"

"She's a vampire," Caroline explained. "She'll be okay."

Cleo and Bonnie pushed Elena up so that Caroline could pull her into the boat. Caroline gave Elena's body a yank and stretched Elena out on the bottom.

"She was trying to get me to stop!" Cleo said, sobbing. "And I was fighting her!"

"Elena will be fine," Caroline explained. "I just need to get the water out of her lungs so she can revive."

"The people I'd be worried about are those three divers," Bonnie told them. "We should go get them."

"Yes, why don't you," Caroline said. "I'd like to have a little talk with them."

* * *

The mermaids swam down and retrieved the three divers. The diver who Cleo had pinned to the coral struggled as Cleo freed him from the spear, but she let her fangs extend for a moment and he quieted right down. The other two were still unconscious, but became quickly awake once Caroline pulled them into the boat and ripped off their masks.

Using her vampire compelling powers Caroline quickly erased their memories of anything having to do with mermaids, vampires, or meredead. She also quizzed them, finding out that Bruce Anderson, the third diver, had been poaching from the reef for years, but had only just moved into the arches area.

Caroline planted suggestions into the minds of the three to destroy any recordings they had made of the mermaids, to assemble their gear and contraband, and then to call the local authorities. From what the men had said it seemed likely that there would be enough evidence to put them in jail for a long time.

As Caroline finished planting the suggestions Elena suddenly gasped and coughed, then sat up in the boat.

"That hurt!" Elena exclaimed. "Ugh, I hate the water!"

"She drowned before becoming a vampire," Bonnie explained to the mermaids. "Hey, at least you weren't locked in a chest underwater, like Stefan."

"Long story," Elena said to their curious looks.

* * *

 _To be concluded in chapter 16, Return to the Moon Pool_

Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated!


	16. Return to the Moon Pool

**Return to the Moon Pool** **\- Chapter 16 of The Meredead**

* * *

"Did you see the report on the telly last night?" Emma asked Rikki as they waited on the sand next to the moon pool.

"That they arrested the captain and owner of the boat they had been using to smuggle the stuff out of here, yes!" Rikki exclaimed. "And that they've recovered records of all the people they sold the stuff to."

"Looks like the AFP is going to have some fun with this one," Bella said. "I'm glad Sea World was not on the list."

"Yeah, that means Lewis still has a job," Rikki said. "And was able to finish his research."

"Speaking of Lewis, shouldn't he be getting here about now?" Emma asked.

"He should be coming in with the bloodsuckers," Rikki said.

"Oh, knock it off, Rikki," Emma told her. "They're nice girls."

"Okay, okay, I'm just joking," Rikki said with a grin. "I like Elena and Caroline."

"Plus they've invited us to visit them in the States," Bella said. "That'll be fun."

"Not sure I want to get anywhere near there, after the stories they told," Emma interjected.

"I wouldn't mind meeting Stefan and Damon," Rikki said.

"Rikki!" Emma exclaimed. "What'd Zane say?"

"He wouldn't know, would he?" Rikki said with a smirk.

* * *

A splash from the moon pool announced the entrance of Bonnie and Cleo, who were just surfacing.

"Hey, where's Lewis?" Cleo asked, looking around.

"He'll be here," Emma told her and looked up towards the volcanic opening above the moon pool. "He's still got a few minutes."

"I hope he didn't forget and decided to go fishing," Cleo said.

"I hope Caroline hasn't sunk her teeth into him," Rikki said, grinning.

"Just kidding!" she exclaimed as Cleo shot a ball of water at her, just narrowly missing.

"Hey, watch it!" Lewis said, stepping into view from the trail leading to the chute. "You about got me with that!"

Elena and Caroline came into the cavern right behind Lewis.

"Hey, guys, why don't you help me out?" Bonnie asked her two vampire friends. "Easier than pulling myself out and its okay if you get wet."

* * *

Once Bonnie was out of the pool Rikki steamed her dry. Once she had rippled and changed back into her human form Bonnie stood up and joined the others around the pool as Lewis unpacked his gear and retrieved the vial with Cleo's blood. Holding it out at arm's length he approached the pool and looked down at Cleo, who was resting her upper body on the rock shelf.

"I hope this is going to work," Cleo said as Lewis knelt next to her.

"I'm pretty sure it will," Lewis said. "All of my tests indicate a high probability of success."

"Yes, Mr. Spock," Rikki told him.

* * *

"You know, there's a chance this might be able to cure you two as well," Lewis told Elena and Caroline. "If you're willing to chance getting tails…"

"I know Bonnie says it is great, but I'm not ready for being a different type of supernatural," Elena told him. "Let's see how it works with Cleo, first."

"Besides, it knocked you out the first time you tried this," Caroline reminded him. "I'm not sure how it will react to non-mermaids."

"Well, if it works we could always try again with the next full moon," Lewis said.

"And speaking of full moons, Lewis," Cleo said, gesturing upwards. "I think it's about time."

* * *

The throat of the volcano was getting bright, just as Cleo said. Lewis estimated he had about a minute until the moon made its appearance and started the magic in the pool.

"Promise that you won't bite me," Lewis said, holding out the vial.

"You'll have to take your chances, Lewis," Cleo told him and gave him a smile. "I'll try not to."

"Okay, then here it goes," Lewis said and tipped the vial, letting a little stream of blood run out onto the surface of the pool.

As Lewis stepped back from the pool Cleo sniffed at the strong scent of blood. A shudder ran through her and her fangs extended, her veins bulged, and streaks of red formed in her tail. With a slight snarl Cleo pushed herself back so that she was in the middle of the pool.

Everyone watched as a miniature whirlpool formed where the stream of blood had hit the surface of the water. With a slurping noise all of the blood was sucked down and was compressed into a single large drop. A tentacle of water formed, rising directly above the drop of blood.

After the tentacle was about two meters high it twisted and turned sideways, seeking a source of the blood under it. After extending out over the edge of the pool it slowly turned, zeroing on in the closest person, who was Elena.

The tentacle slowly approached Elena, but suddenly it pulled back and lashed out at her. Having been warned by Lewis Elena used her vampire speed and jumped out of the way, the tentacle narrowly missing her.

"Doesn't look like it likes you," Lewis said to Elena.

"Let's see what it thinks of Caroline," Elena told him.

The tentacle of water also tried to hit Caroline, but she stepped back before it could hit her and it withdrew, still searching. After not finding anyone of interest on the edge of the pool it turned inward, and encountered Cleo in her meredead form. The tentacle extended towards her and briefly touched her on the cheek, before pulling back and falling with a splash into the pool.

From the point directly underneath where the tentacle had been the small sample of blood started to expand, swirling around the pool, until the entire pool was the color of blood, matching Cleo's eyes and the streaks in her tail.

Suddenly a thin sliver of moon appeared in the throat of the volcano, sending a narrow beam of moonlight shining down onto the surface of the pool. The pool started to bubble where the moonlight touched the water, but with deep, blood red bubbles. Red sparks of magic swirled above the pool, and rose towards the moon, which was almost centered directly overhead.

When the moon was directly centered over the pool a flash of white shot down into the pool and the bubbles started to become white, their normal color. The cleansing bubbles spread throughout the pool, until there was not a trace of red anywhere. The last thing in the pool to lose the red was Cleo; it appeared to those watching that the red was sucked out of her. Her eyes and tail become normal, and her fangs vanished, as did the veins in her forehead.

* * *

The bubbling in the pool slowly diminished as the moon passed overhead, to cease entirely once the moon was out of sight. As the water became calm Lewis reached out to Cleo and took her hand, helping her out onto the sand. But before Rikki turned on the heat power Lewis put his arms around her and held her close.

"So how do I smell?" Lewis asked.

Cleo took a deep breath and made a face.

"Like a sweaty boy," she said.

"I am so glad!" Lewis told her and gave her a big kiss.

* * *

At the hotel the next day everyone gathered to say goodbye to the Yanks, who were flying out that evening, heading back to the States. After Lewis wished them well the women all exchanged hugs, before Bella brought out a small case and presented it to Bonnie.

"What's this?" Bonnie asked.

"Open it and find out," Bella told her.

Inside the box was a pendant with a blue moonstone from the pool, just like the other mermaids were wearing.

"You're one of us now," Cleo explained.

"A mermaids always, even if you're on dry land," Emma told her.

"Thanks, this means a lot," Bonnie told them and fastened the pendant around her neck.

"There; how does it look?" Bonnie asked.

"Perfect!" Cleo told her.

Cleo then pulled off the sunlight ring and held it out to Bonnie.

"I guess I don't need this anymore," Cleo told her. "Thanks though for letting me use it."

"You keep it," Bonnie told her. "As a memento of being one of the undead."

"Uh, thanks, I think," Cleo said, slipping the ring back on.

Rikki gave both Caroline and Elena big hugs and a big smile.

"I was wrong about you two," Rikki told them. "You're good friends. Thanks for saving Cleo, and all of us."

"Going to come visit us?" Elena asked.

"I'm planning on it," Rikki said with a sneaky smile.

The four mermaids watched as the taxi sped away, on the way to the airport. The sun was just setting, and a shaft of sunlight shone directly on the four, causing each of the moonstones worn around their necks to give off a blue glow.

If anybody had been looking, though, they would have seen a faint spark of red in Cleo's…

* * *

 **The End**

Thanks for reading! Any comments or suggestions would be welcome; hopefully I'll be starting on my next story shortly.


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